Rise to Power
by inner darkness
Summary: It's 6/7 yrs since the winter war, what has changed and what will happen when Toshiro returns to Karakura Town and meets a now seventeen year old Karin. BTW I don't own bleach just encase anyone thinks I do. Possibly some spoilers from the manga.
1. Prologue

This is my first ever story so please review and tell me what you think good or bad and how you think I could improve. I will update each chapter as soon as possible however I'm going to make each chapter as good as I can. The more reviews I get the more motivated I will be update sooner!

**Prologue**

After the winter war, Aizen had not been defeated however both sides had sustained several casualties therefore both had retreated to recover.

After that there was an eerie peace in Karakura town, as the resident soul reapers waited for the next attack. However in the last few months more hollows appeared and their attacks had become stronger therefore it was decided by soul society that there would be a group of high ranking shinigami stationed in Karakura town at all times. This would be rotated every few months, so far only one group had stayed which had consisted of Unohana (the Capitan of the 4th division), Ōmaeda (the lieutenant of the 2nd division) and the two 3rd seat offices of the 13th division Kiyone and Sentarō.


	2. Chapter One

**I know I didn't give a lot for the prologue or a lot to review but hopefully this is a better size. So please review and thank you to thoes who already have e.g. ShikallllTema, I really appreciate it. Thanks:) **

**Chapter One**

"Kaarrin, give daddy a hug" Ishiin screamed as he ran to hug his now seventeen year old daughter, who had entered the house with a football under her arm, only to be kicked in the face. Karin let out a sigh as he ran to the portrait of his deceased wife Masaki and began over dramatically crying "Our daughter is so mean to me".

Suddenly Yuzu appeared beside Karin and said "We better get to Uraharas' cause we don't want to be late to see off Unohana-Taicho, Ōmaeda- fukutaicho, Kiyone and Sentarō and meet whoever is taking their place."

"Yeah and I bet you can't wait to go and see Jinta" whispered Karin into her sister's ear so that Ichigo, who had been sitting on the couch the whole time couldn't hear, as Yuzu went bright red. Currently Ichigo didn't know about Yuzus' and Jintas' _relationship_ if it could be called that. Sure they had been caught kissing few times by Karin, however they weren't officially going out or anything.

Karin popped a soul candy in her mouth and was quickly followed by same actions of Ishiin, Ichigo and Yuzu. Karin had become a shinigami when she was 13, then a year later Yuzu had become the same. The four shinigami appeared in their soul form of which Karin appeared the youngest. (A/N: assume that Karins' as well as Yuzus' and Ichigos' souls age at a slower than the rate of their bodies and at the same rate as those in soul society from the time they became shinigami. Therefore Karin looks approx 14, Yuzu looks approx 15 and Ichigo looks approx 17 in their soul forms).

--

They arrived at Urahara's to find that everyone was already there waiting for the gate to appear including those who were about to leave and all the occupants of Urahara's shop which now included Nel (who had switched sides after returning from Hueco Mundo). Orihime, Chad and Ishida were also there. Everyone began to chat to each other except Yuzu and Jinta who seemed to have snuck off somewhere.

Karin she sat there quietly thinking, "Unohana was great and even though scary in a friendly way she was able to teach Yuzu a great deal of healing Kidō especially as it was the area she was adapt in however I think I'm glad to see them go. She is kind of unnerving, Ōmaeda is annoying and really smells and Kiyone and Sentarō don't know when to shut up. I don't think I could have stood having to listen to one more pointless argument from them.

She only came out of her train of thought as a hell butterfly flew past her nose. She noticed the gate had now appeared and Yuzu and Jinta had reappeared with slightly red faces. She turned to see who was coming out of the gate. Firstly there was Ikkaku and Yumichika then Rangiku, Renji, Rukia and finally a short white haired captain who had grown slightly since the last time she'd seen him and now looked approximately 14/15 years old, Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

--

Once they all arrived back at Urahara's shop they began to discuss the necessary living arrangements.

Orihime said "My house is pretty small but I can take one". (A/N: Orihime so that she could afford to pay for university had moved in to a smaller apartment.)

Jumping at the chance Rangiku said "Sure I could stay with you, since I stayed with you before and you know we're kinda' like sisters, we could stay up having girly chats". Orihime excited that Rangiku had called their relationship almost like sisters, since she never had a sister, quickly agreed and in her head she was already planning the late night talks and snacks. "I wonder if Rangiku would like my new recepie cherry, honey and green bean sandwiches?"

Urahara then said "Well, since I got the extension put on to the shop I can take three"

Before Tōshirō could get a word in edge ways Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji had already accepted Uraharas' offer.

"We'll then I suppose that leaves us with shorty" Ichigo stated. It was already assumed that Rukia would be staying with the Kurosaki's.

A tick already appeared on Tōshirō head and he coldly replied "Its' Hitsugaya-Taicho and I'm not SHORT!"

"Still haven't got over your height issues?" Karin rhetorically asked smirking from behind him.

He turned around slightly shocked as it was the first thing she had said so far and if he was completely honest with himself he didn't even realise she was there. He was going to say something but before he could Ichigo had interrupted his train of thought by saying: "Anyway, you know the way to our house so we are going home to get sorted, come by once you get your gigi." And they had left the room with Ishiin leaving Yuzu and Rukia who had decided to stay and train.

--

When they arrived home they prepared for their guest, this involved getting back into their bodies. Karin decided that after the morning of playing football needed to get a shower and get changed. Ichigo had already left to meet up with some friends in town however Karin guessed that he had most likely went to see Orihime, Ishiin had already left to go to the clinic and the artificial souls had already left with Rukias' and Yuzus' bodies to Urahara's shop to wait for them. This left her to wait for Tōshirō.

--

Tōshirō walked over to Urahara to get his gigi however he noticed it was different one from last time he was in the human world. He went to question Urahara however before he could say anything Urahara stated with a slight smirk on his face and a devious glint in his eyes "I thought you would like to look a bit older, your human clothes are over there as well".

--

Karin sat in her bedroom working on a project when she heard the door bell; she walked down stairs to open the door to an extremely hot 6 ft 1 eighteen year old guy with white spiked hair which she had the sudden urge to run her hand though. He wore baggy jeans with a black T-shit which even though wasn't tight, it showed off his perfectly sculpted abs.

"T-Tōshirō" Karin stuttered out of shock, she was pretty sure she had stood there staring at him for at least a minute, there was no way this was the youngest captain of the 13 Goeti but it was confirmed when he mumbled something along the lines of "Its Hitsugaya-Taicho".

She turned around to let him in and also so that he couldn't see her face which was going slightly red. "Wow" she thought "Taicho grew up and got style, who would have thought." As Tōshirō walked in he was able to see Karin fully now whereas before the door slightly blocked his view. "She's changed a hell of a lot" he thought "She was no longer such a tomboy." He tried to shake the thought out of his head. "Though she's probably still as violent as ever"

"So" Karin said "I'll show you about the house and where you will be staying". She pointed out the key parts of the house on the lower floor of the house including the living room and the Kitchen.

As he followed her round the house he began analysing how she had changed from the last time he had saw her "She was taller, about 5, 4 he estimated and her hair was now ½ way down her back. She had formed curves in all the right places" he blushed slightly at his thoughts but at least she didn't know what was running though his mind. Her fashion sense had certainly changed she had changed her spandex shorts for a pair of jeans which showed off her curvy legs to their full potential with high heeled boots which give her extra height and made them look so much longer. Then she made her way upstairs with Tōshirō following behind however her foot suddenly slipped causing her to fall backwards. "Shit" she muttered as she closed her eyes, waiting for her impact with the floor while trying to grab on to something, anything to prevent her inevitable fall.

However the impact never came and instead she felt her body pressed up against Tōshirō's rock hard body with her arms firmly secured around his neck and his hands tightly grasping her waist. She opened her eyes to find that she was just inches from Toushiro's face and she couldn't help but blush a deep shade of red as she tried to speak. "Umm, t –thanks" she managed to stutter out however she found they were still in the same position even though she had regained her balance.

She began to feel uncomfortable then again she was in a slightly comprising position which if anyone walked in they could get the wrong idea and its even with a guy who she hadn't seen in seven years and to be honest she didn't really know that well. So in true Karin style she said the first thing that came to her head which as usual was full of sarcasm.

"You know what, I think I can stand and walk by myself!"

Slightly confused by her sudden change of attitude he quickly let go of her and replied in an equally sarcastic tone "Really cause almost falling down the stairs constitutes as being able to walk"

"Almost! I didn't"

"Yeah because I caught you, so you're lucky I was here"

"If you weren't here I wouldn't have to go up the stairs at that particular moment of time and therefore wouldn't have slipped"

"Yeah, you would have probably done it later on anyway when no one would have been here to catch you cause of them shoes"

"I can walk in these shoes fine"

"Yeah cause' that's obvious"

Karin gave him a glare that would have sent him to the grave if glares could kill. Then replied "So whats' up with gigi supermidget? Tired of being an elementary student?"

"I'm not an ELEMENTARY STUDENT and I'm NOT A SUPERMIDGET?

"Maybe not, but your still short"

A vein appeared on Tōshirō head and he walked up another step so that he was on the same one as Karin and then bent down so that his head was level with hers and patted her on the head like a dog and said "So who did you call short" Karin was about to reply when she was interrupted by two spirit phones bleeping, they pulled them out of their pockets and said in unison "arrancar", they then popped soul candy in their mouths and ran out the door to the nearby soccer field. Tōshirō was pretty sure he had heard Karin say "Why does it always have to be my football pitch, why not the school, it wouldn't matter if it was destroyed – no one would care".

--


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

When they arrived Ichigo, Rukia, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku and Renji where already there. Karin had never seen an arrancar before but she could feel their spiritual pressure, it was intense and they were strong, but she knew she was as well. She knew who two of the eight where from what she had heard. The one with bright blue hair was Grimmjow and there was one with green eyes and he looked as if he was crying was called Ulquiorra.

Ichigo turned to see the arrival of his sister and even before he said it he knew she wouldn't take heed.

"Karin, get the hell out of here they're too strong"

"I can fight and I'm going to fight, anyway if I leave that means that there is eight of them and only seven of us".

Ichigo knew she was right but he didn't like the look of these new arrancar, he then turned to the person who was closest to her who happened to Tōshirō and said "Look after her". It was all he had the time to say as Grimmjow came charging at him.

--

It wasn't long till everyone was paired off including herself. Karin stood facing a large arrancar with hollow shell covering his nose and stretched across his cheeks. He had dark purple hair with streaks of white through it which was tied back into a pony tail. He approached her and began to laugh, then said "Darn I get paired with the weakling and I was hoping for a good fight, I'm Baudelio the 25th arrancar. He then charged at her faster than the eye could see with his sword poised to strike her rib cage, she attempted to dodge but the blade cut deep into her shoulder causing the blood to flow freely. She jumped back from him so that they were a few meters apart breathing heavily to control the pain.

"How rude not even introducing yourself" said Baudelio as he moved to attack her again but this time she use shunpo and was able to easily dodged.

"I'd rather not develop familiarity with things I'm about to kill" she replied

"Cocky little thing aren't you"

"I'M NOT LITTLE, ASSHOLE" she shouted as her temper rose

She charged full force at the arrancar aiming to leave a deep slash across his chest however it barely left a scratch. She stood back out of breath and loosing strength and blood quickly.

"Why are you here anyway", she asked in an attempt to stall his next assault till she regained at least her breath.

"We have to come and collect something for Aizen"

"And what would that be?"

"Nel-Tu of course, you didn't think he would let a powerful annarcar such as her join the ranks of the enemy did you" he said with a smirk as he glanced over his shoulder to see how his comrades where doing. At his point there seemed to be no definite winners however many were bleeding and he could see that all the shinigami except for his opponent had released their bankai (A/N By this point Rukia, Yumichika and Rangiku have all achieved their bankai). However he knew all the other annarcar were higher ranking than him.

All Karin needed was for his attention to be distracted for a moment because the next thing he heard was Karins' voice shout out "Destructive spell number 90 Black Coffin". He was then surrounded by a box of black energy and felt spears, lacerating him from head to toe.

Seeing their fallen comrade the other annarcars began to retreat back to Hueco Mundo. Tōshirō then rushed to Karin and asked in a worried tone "Are you ok?"

"Yea, how did I do?" she asked just before she blacked out from blood loss and began to fall only to be caught by Tōshirō. He didn't realise before but now he was carrying her to Urahara to be healed he could feel her blood where it had soaked through her clothes.

--

Tōshirō left Karin on the futon in Urarahs shop as Yuzu healed her, she was still unconscious. He then walked into the other room where everyone had gathered to discuss what had happened.

"So it begins, it appears Aizen has recovered and is ready for a new battle and I'm guessing he will be stronger than last time. Though what was the point of their little venture today?" Urahara said more to himself than anyone else.

"I'm not sure, I overheard one the annarcar telling Karin that they had come for Nel" Tōshirō said

Nel just sat silently in the corner listening to every word

"That may be true however I don't think that was their main objective of this mission, Nel has not been an annarcar for approximately six years so why now decide to come and take her. It seems far more likely that they came to look at the defences of Karakura town and used it as an excuse."

Ichigo then asked "So do you think they will attack soon?"

"I'm not sure but you will have to alert soul society to this incident immediately"

Rangiku then whispered to Tōshirō so that no-one else could hear "Well hopefully we will find out tonight."

Before everyone began to leave Urahara said "We should all meet back here tomorrow at two for updates on the situation and to see how soul society reacts". Then he left the room snapping his fan closed.

--

Tōshirō proceeded to followed Urahara into the kitchen looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following, them. Urahara noticing that the young shinigami had followed him into the kitchen turned around to offer him a cup of tea. He had an idea what he wanted to talk about but he was going to wait until he stated what he wanted himself.

Tōshirō politely declined the cup of tea then went on to ask what he really wanted to know, Tōshirō was not one to stand around chatting he would usually go straight to the point.

"How could Karin use that kidō spell, only the most advanced shimigami can use it and the only other time I have heard it being used was by Aizen and even then he was only able to use it to a ⅓ of its full destructive power. How could Karin use it to its full capabilities, she's only been a shinigami for about four years?"

Urahara smirked to himself as he turned around this was exactly what he had expected the young captain to ask.

"Well, she seems to be particularly adept at Kidō, and she has had a lot of time to practice and train in these skills since she hasn't communicated with her zanpakutō's spirit yet.

"What! That's unheard of, most shinigami within the first couple of years have at least communicated in their sleep. I've never heard of anyone except for Kenpachi Zaraki who hasn't communicated with their zanpakutō in some way by three years of being the age to enter the academy none the less four."

"Maybe not but I feel she is coming close, remember you may have achieved yours early however it is sometimes the ones who achieve theirs late who are the strongest. Besides its' probably been beneficial to her because it means that unlike Ichigo she has had to work more on the other forms of attack and defence and has gained considerable skill in controlling her kidō, agility and Hand-to-hand combat. Though the hand to hand combat may have a lot to do with the way she was bought up, not every kid is jumped on by their father as soon as they walk through the door. But you will see her skill tomorrow when she trains".

"Wait, did she not achieve her shinigami powers the same way as Ichigo?"

"True, but she doesn't seem to have any memory of meeting her zanpakutō."

"Oh."

--

As Karin opened her eyes she found she was lying on a futon in Uraharas shop. Rangiku was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room waiting for her to wake up.

"Ahh, you're up, how are you feeling" Rangiku said

"Yeah I'm fine, my shoulder is a bit stiff but nothing to complain about, what happed anyway?"

"After we fought the annarcar you collapsed from blood loss and Tōshirō carried you back here where your sister healed you".

The artificial soul then came in with Karins' body and Karin got up and went into her body.

"Wow, Karin you've grown up. What age are you now, eighteen?"

"Seventeen, but close enough"

"I'll tell you what, do you want to come clubbing with me and Tōshirō tonight"

"Tōshirō go clubbing"

"Yeah, well I haven't asked him yet but I'm sure I can get him to go."

"Since I'm not eighteen yet its' not exactly legal and I don't have ID, not even fake"

"You'll get in don't worry I'll be there and so will Tōshirō, so we'll meet you about nine at your house, ok"

"Ok"

"Anyway I've got to go now to Orihimes with Tōshirō to report to the sōtaichō."

--

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra along with the five other surviving annarcars who had been sent to Karakura town walked into the dark large hall in Las Noches which was Aizens throne room. On a stone white throne above them sat a shinigami with slicked back brown hair and around them in the shadows were the other annarcars. Ulquiorra was the only one to speak.

"We have returned Aizen"

"Welcome back, but there seems to be one short, what is your report, show us what you have witnessed on your mission"

"Yes sir"

Ulquiorra then took his eye out of his socket and crushed it in his hand into small dust like particles that sparkled as they floated though the air to the others in the room.

"I see" Aizen said "Well done"

He then he rose and said "This meeting is finished" and left the hall followed by Gin and Kaname.

--

After the meeting in the throne hall, Aizen along with Gin and Kaname walked to Aizens' personal quarters where the Hōgyoku is stored and sat down in his seat so that he was facing out to the balcony.

Gin interrupted the silence "Well that was interesting, she was able to use the black coffin kidō spell to its full destructive potential"

"Yes Gin, it is strange as I myself only managed to use it to a ⅓ of its destructive power and yet she is unfamiliar to me therefore appears to be a relatively new within the last five years. This could be a problem she appears to have the strong potential. However I am curious as to why she didn't release her zanpakutō even into shanki form. We must retrieve more information about her and if necessary she must be dealt with sooner rather than later. Kaname fetch Ulquiorra I have another mission for him."

--

**I didn't want Karin to be absolutely amazing and be a brilliant fighterat least not to begin with, she hasn't progressed like Ichigo in the zanpakutō and it has taken four years to progress to this point. There is no way she could have won if the annarcar hadn't been distracted and looked away. However I wanted her to progress faster than the normal shinigami especially in Kido anyway because she is a Kurosaki.**

**I found writing the fight scene difficult so please review tell me what you think what you like what you hate.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"Com' on Tachio, you've gotta go Karins going"

"She's not even eighteen yet and I thought this was to get information, not to have fun"

"It can be both, and she's almost eighteen. If you want you can think of it as your duty as Tachio. It is technically part of our mission"

"No!"

"Fine I'm sure we'll be fine without you"

"Exactly"

"And Karins a pretty girl so there'll be tones of guys there anyway who will wan't to buy her a drink and dance with her and who knows maybe she might meet someone really nice"

"Fine, I'll go"

"Really Tachio"

"But only because its' part of the mission and not for any other reason and no drinking sake or any other alcohol or I will strip you of your rank and sign you up to clean the sewers with forth squad."

"Of course Tachio" said Rangiku with a knowing smile. "It was easier to convince him than I thought it would be" she thought "Aww my Tachio is all grown up". She gave him a hug which would have killed him if she didn't hear him yell "Matsumoto, you're going to suffocate me". Though to be honest you think he would have gotten used to it by now.

On the screen in Orihimes bedroom, there suddenly appeared an image of the sōtaichō. "Yamamoto- sōtaichō" Rangiku and Tōshirō said at the same time"

"Hitsugaya-Taicho, Matsumoto- fukutaicho, down to business then. Due to the secrecy of the information we are discussing have you put a strong Kidō barrier around the room to prevent those who we do not wish to hear to hear?"

"Yes, it is done" stated Tōshirō

"Very well what is there to report?"

They began discussing the events of the annarcar attack in detail. "Very well, we will have a meeting at 1:00pm tomorrow to discuss and review the further information that may arise"

--

As Karin, Rangiku and Tōshirō arrived at the club they preceded to walk in as there wasn't a queue. Karin and Rangiku walked in first with Tōshirō behind.

"Sorry, but I'm going to need to see ID", one of the bouncers asked a suddenly confused Tōshirō. But luckly Rangiku who seemed to have planned encase this occurred walked over to the bouncer and give him the most innocent expression she could muster and said "He's my little brother and he's just turned eighteen so I'm taking him out to celebrate, he just hasn't an ID yet", even though the bouncer didn't appear to be looking at her face.

"O –oh ryt, then go on in" the man stuttered as Tōshirō proceeded to walk on in with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

Once inside they sat down Tōshirō tried to say something to Karin however he realised that he would have to lean right up close to her ear and speak due to the volume of the music. He had already decided that he didn't like clubs, he couldn't understand why people go to them.

Karin leaned close to his ear leaning on his shoulder and asked "Do you want a drink" his skin tingled where she had touched his shoulder but he tried not to notice.

"Drink" he replied stupidly

"Yeah, you know the liquid people tend to, well drink"

"I know what you meant; I just didn't hear you properly"

"So do you want one or not?"

"Yeah sure, how much do they cost?"

"Don't worry, I'll get you one but you'll owe me a drink in the future"

"Ok"

As Karin got up to go get the drinks however out of the corner of his eye Tōshirō noticed a group of guys who were eyeing her. It annoyed him, for all they knew she could have been with him, she wasn't but she could have been. Sure she was wearing a short denim skirt with high stilettos which showed off her legs and she looked pretty hot.

"Wait did I just call her hot?" Tōshirō thought "well she does that doesn't mean I like her in that way"

"Sure it doesn't" Hyōrinmaru but into thoughts

"It doesn't!"

"I know you better than you know you self."

"Its' been a while since we've talked how come you are now?"

"What can I say things are started to get interesting"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing"

Tōshirō meant to question his zanpakutō further but only Karin had returned with the drinks.

"Where did Rangiku go"

At some point during his internal conversation with his zanpakutō Rangiku had got up and went somewhere leaving him on his own and he hadn't even noticed.

"I'm sure she will be back in a moment" he replied but he had a good idea where she went. It was the entire reason they were here. "Anyway, are these drinks alcoholic, I'm on duty"

"Lighten up, you aren't going to get drunk from one small bottle of WKD and a shot"

--

Mean while Rangiku was walking to the other side of the club where it was harder for Tōshirō and Karin to see her and also where the music wasn't as loud. She felt a presence behind her and she knew she was being followed. She felt two arms wrap around her waist and pull her tight towards a chiselled chest she immediately knew who it was.

"Gin" she said turning around with a smile on her face. They sat down closely together and she smashed her lips into his. After breaking apart she was slightly out of breath and put her right hand on the side of his face tracing the features and in a worried tone she asked "How have you been?"."Betta' now that you're here" he said hugging her tighter as she leaned against him.

"He doesn't suspect your working for soul society does he?"

"If he did I wouldn't be here now would I?"

"Just tell me that just as soon as there is any hint he may know you will get out of there." There was a moment of silence then she said "Its' been so long since I have seen you, I miss you".

His only reply was to kiss her on the lips with all the passion he could muster. She felt his tongue swept on her lower lip, but she didn't mind and opened her mouth willingly to invite him in. The kiss was the same as the ones she remembered and it took her breath away every time.

"Don't be so serious Ran, I see you've bought the little Capin' with ya"

"Yeah, don't worry I bought something or someone to keep him entertained"

"I see that" he said with a tone of amusement looking over to where Karin and Tōshirō were sitting. "Ran" he suddenly said in a serious tone. "I have to go but here is what I came here to give you" he said as he handed her a CD in a case and she slipped it in to her bag. "Sooner you listen to it the better". He then got up give her one last kiss then walked away.

--

When Ragiku walked over and smirked as she noticed that Karin had convinced Tōshirō to do in a matter of minutes what she had spent the last ten years trying to do. Get her Captain to drink alcohol!

"Well, who wants to dance?" Rangiku asked

"Umm, I can't actually dance." replied Karin

"Sure you can" Rangiku said as she pulled Karin to her feet and towards the dance floor. Tōshirō snickered until Karin gave him a death glare which slowly turned into an evil smile. She grabbed his hand and said sarcastically "Only if Tōshirō comes as well, he can't miss out on the fun"

Seeing the same guys as before out of the corner of eye looking at Karin or possible Rangiku he remembered Rangiku statement earlier that day "Karins' a pretty girl so there'll be tones of guys there anyway who will want to buy her a drink and dance with her and who knows maybe she might meet someone really nice".

So sounding more reluctant than he really was he said "Fine".

"I'm not doing this cause I want to dance with her, I'm doing it cause those guys look like dickheads and they might try something" Tōshirō thought. Or you're jealous that one of them might dance with her if you don't" Hyōrinmaru said.

Before he knew it Rangiku had grabbed his other hand and dragged him to the dance floor. It was really crowded which forced him and Karin closer together so that his hands were on her waist and one of her hands was on his shoulder.

_I'm bringing sexy back  
Them other boys don't know how to act  
I think you're special whats behind your back  
So turn around and i'll pick up the slack.  
Take em' to the bridge_

Dirty babe  
You see these shackles  
Baby I'm your slave  
I'll let you whip me if I misbehave  
It's just that no one makes me feel this way

Take em' to the chorus

As they were dancing a thought came into his head "Maybe clubs weren't so bad".

--

Tōshirō woke up the next morning late with a hangover and a headache due to the previous night he glanced at the clock realising the time.

"What the hell 12:00pm, I've never slept that late and the meeting is in an hour." He got washed and dressed to go down stairs to grab a couple of pain killers.

"A couple of drinks won't affect you my ass, why did I let her convince me to drink". Then again he knew he drank more than just a small bottle of WKD and a shot and couldn't exactly remember how he had got back. Thinking about it he wondered "If Rangiku was drunk probably to the point of incapacitation and I was . . . tipsy and Karin wasn't exactly sober herself by the end of the night, how the hell did she manage to get all of us home?"

He saw Yuzu in the kitchen and even though he guessed she was probably still in bed he asked "Where's Karin?"

"I think she went to the to play football with her friends" "How the hell, she drank just as much as me how can she get up early and go and play football" he thought. "Probably with the same guys as before"

"Well I got to go to a meeting now so I'll see you later on at Uraharas "

"Yeah sure, see yea later"

"Wait you don't want breakfast before you go? I can get you something if you like"

"No thanks, I'm late as it is. Bye" Tōshirō replied as he walked out the door

--

He arrived on time at Orihimes and he and Rangiku put the strong Kidō barrier on the room as they did before.

"So what information have we received from our informant?" inquired Yamamoto

Rangiku replied "We have received a CD which I believe has audio on it, however we felt it would be best listening to it during this meeting.

Rangiku walked over and placed the CD in a nearby player and pressed play and a familiar voice rang out.

_Gin: "Well that was interesting; she was able to use the black coffin kidō spell to its full destructive potential"_

_Aizen: "Yes Gin, it is strange as I myself only managed to use it to a ⅓ of its destructive power and yet she is unfamiliar to me therefore appears to be a relatively new within the last five years. This could be a problem she appears to have the strong potential. However I am curious as to why she didn't release her __zanpakutō even into shanki form. We must retrieve more information about her and if necessary she must be dealt with sooner rather than later. __Kaname fetch Ulquiorra I have another mission for him.__"_

After a moment of silence Yamamotos' voice rang out "It appears that Karin Kurosakis' life is in immediate danger and therefore as such I have decided that in two days both of you along with Karin will return to soul society. Karin will remain here for unknown amount of time and a two soul reapers will be sent to take your place. Update Karin Ishiin and Ichigo Kurosaki of this new development but be sure that they know only what is necessary; Karin will have a full brief of the situation when she arrives at Soul Society. Until then I am ordering you Hitsugaya-Taicho to remain with her at all times to ensure her safety. Keep that CD safe and deliver it to me upon your arrival in soul society. Any questions?"

"No" both Rangiku and Tōshirō replied

"Then that is all" the screen went blank

"Matsumoto, you are in charge of that CD" Tōshirō yelled as he shunpod out the window.

--

**A bit of Gin X Ran, yea I made Gin a good guy but for some reason I just can't see him as a bad guy. I wasn't sure about this chapter but I wanted something which a normal seventeen would do as well as something Rangiku would do so clubbing at a place with alcohol. I know in the US the clubbing age is something like 21 however I used the UK age which it's 18 and a lot of people at least the people I know have been sneaking into clubs from age 16. It seemed like a place that Rangiku even though it is serious business would arrange to meet someone.**

**Please review even if it isn't positive so I know how I can improve and thanks to those who all ready reviewed**


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Karin was playing football with the friends in the usual spot when she felt Tōshirō spiritual energy. She looked up to see him standing on the hill looking down on the football pitch, she could tell that something wasn't right. She kicked the ball into the goal and seeing that her friends' boyfriends were coming anyway to see them she shouted that she had to go and ran off in Tōshirō direction as it was likely that they weren't going to continue playing anyway and if she stayed she would be a third wheel.

He was kind of surprised to see that it was girls Karin was playing with, he fully expected it to be the same guys from last time he was here however she looked more like he used to remember her, only she was wearing tracksuit bottoms instead of spandex shorts. He saw guys approaching in the distance and all the girls walked towards them except for Karin who began to walk over towards him.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you thing some things wrong?"

"You just seem more, I don't know, more pissed off than usual"

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Hyōrinmaru whisper "She knows you already".

They walked in silence till they reached the railing where Tōshirō usually sits to look at the sun when in Karakura Town.

"I can't give you any details now but it appears the your life is in danger and I have to stay with you at all times until you go to soul society which will be in two days time"

"Why do you have to stay with me? I can look after myself and I know how to fight" it annoyed Karin when people acted as if she couldn't look after herself. That's part of the reason she became a soul reaper, so she could kick those peoples asses.

She got up to walk away. It wasn't in her nature to be trapped and having someone that had to stay with all the times would make her feel trapped. However Tōshirō grabbed her by the arms and pushed her up against the wall and holding her arms to the sides of her head so that she couldn't get away.

"You don't understand!" he said "You are in serious danger and I have been ordered by Yamamoto. So don't be stupid or all high and mighty just cause you killed one low ranking annarcar cause if you get caught or even worse hurt bad things will happen and it's just going to hurt those who care about you."

"Why would you care?" she replied angrily as she tried to break free but he was too strong

"Cause I do" he said in a hurt voice, he didn't know why he was hurt by what she said, well maybe he did but he didn't really want to admit it to himself. Karin couldn't do anything but look him in the eyes. He subconsciously leaned down and without even thinking she went up on her tip toes to meet his lips.

The kiss started out soft innocent and sweet but then as her lips opened to let his tongue enter her mouth it became more passionate. He let go of her wrists and she put her arms round his shoulders with one running through his hair while one of his hands grabbed her waist while the other move to the small of her back to pull her closer as they explored each others' mouths.

Once they broke apart Karin was too embarrassed to look at him in the eye so she looked down until she was forced to as he lifted up her chin so her eyes met his and he said "I just want you to be safe". She was sure her face had gone pure red. He grabbed her hand and they began to walk to Uraharas. He heard Hyōrinmaru say "That's what I meant by interesting." He wasn't quite sure of what just happened but it sure as hell felt good.

--

Everyone crowded in to a small room to hear if there were any updates from yesterday. Rukia sat on Renjis' knee and Orihime sat on Ichigos' however Karin doubted this was only due to the size of the room. They kept their private lives, well private but the thing was that everyone knew anyway. As everyone quietened down Tōshirō spoke. "In two days time Matsumoto and I will return to soul society and will two new soul reapers will take our place most likely another Taicho and fukutaicho. Karin will also becoming to soul society to train. That is all." Ishiin and Ichigo had stoic faces having already learnt from Rangiku the real reason why she was going.

After the meeting everyone began walking down to the underground training room however Karin pulled Tōshirō in to another room. She pulled him forward till her back was against the wall and he was pressed up tight against her. She looked past Tōshirō then began to snigger. Tōshirō turned around to see what was so funny.

Yuzu and Jinta were in the corner of the room and were so concentrated on each other that they didn't even realise that Tōshirō and Karin were there. They broke free of each other out of breath and it was only then they noticed the other occupants of the room and they went bright red. Jinta looked as if he was about explode.

"Sorry" Karin mumbled as she dragged Tōshirō out the room trying to hold down a laugh.

--

Karin walked down with Tōshirō to the underground training field that she had been in so many times before when training. She walked over to Yoruichi to find out what training she would be doing to today while Tōshirō walked over to the side of the field to watch.

"Right, today and want you to start out with the usual, practice your Kidō spells in order as far as you can without incantation then I want you to go on until you reach one you can't do with incantation."

"Yeah sure"

Karin began practicing the spells from easiest to the hardest. Tōshirō watched her every movement the skilled and practiced way she moved her hands to form the incantations, the determination in her eyes and the concentration written all over her face. He found himself thinking back to the when he had first met her the determination she had to win the football match but then his musings travelled to their kiss. "She got you good" Hyōrinmaru said

"She what?"

"You can't stop looking at her or thinking about her and you only met her again a few days ago, the young ice tachio who doesn't show emotions, has been caught by a human girl in less than a week. I was beginning to think it would never happen."

"Shut up, it's not that big a deal we just kissed"

"And broke soul society rules"

"Not really, she's"

"Now you're just rationalising"

Tōshirō hadn't thought about it but if him and Karin did form a relationship and got caught it could turn out disastrous, he would probably be stripped of his rank and who knows what would happen to Karin. His mind was in turmoil but it didn't show on his face, was it worth the risk.

Karin was able to complete the kidō spells up to 85 without incantation and all of them with incantation all with great power except number 99 part 2.

"Good" said Yoruichi "That's two more you can successfully cast with almost full power without the incantation. For the next hour I want you to practice number 86 without incantation and keep practicing number 99 part 2."

"Yeah sure" replied Karin with determination in her voice, she wanted to get better, she needed to.

Tōshirō was amazed by her speed at learning it was incredibly quick. By the end of the hour Karin could perform number 85 and 86 without incantation as well as perform number 99 part 2 however it wasn't that strong but a few more days and it would be.

"Right Karin I think you're ready to begin learning shunkō"

"What's that" Karin enquired

"It's a technique, which combines kidō energy and hand-to-hand combat, to concentrate spiritual power at the back and shoulders for quicker movement and increased attack power, it also allows it to be fired at opponents and can be used to instantly neutralize an opponent's movement"

"Cool, so what do I have to do?"

Tōshirō couldn't believe his ears Yoruichi was teaching her it already and she had only been a soul reaper for four years. There were only two people who could use this technique and they were Yoruichi and Soifon and they had both been practicing for years.

"Remember when I was first teaching you to control your spiritual power and we used the spirit core to teach you to control your spirit energy and concentrate." (A/N: A spirit ball is the thing Ichigo, Yoruichi, Orihime, Chad, Ishida and Ganju used to get into the Seireitei.)

"Yeah"

"Well I want you to do the same only with your right hand, hold it out and concentrate"

An orb of blue appeared around her hand

"Now I want you to concentrate solely in your hand and not the area surrounding it as well."

Karin sat there and practiced for hours until was able to, while Yoruichi and Tōshirō watched patiently. Suddenly the blue orb of energy disappeared and what looked like lightening started shooting from her hand, it wasn't strong but didn't travel very far however it was a step in the right direction.

"Well done Karin, but give it a break for today, when you are in soul society Soifong should be able to teach you the rest"

"Thanks"

"No probs kid" Yoruichi said patting Karin on the head

--

Karin and Tōshirō walked back to the Kurosaki household in silence not even realising that they were holding hands.

Just before they entered the house Tōshirō stopped Karin and asked "Why did you let Yoruichi call you a kid"

"I don't know, she has just always called me kid and it never bothered me. I suppose its cause I respect her cause she has taught me everything I know in Kidō along with Tessi of course. She also teaches me things which she hasn't taught my brother or very many other people so even though she calls me kid she doesn't treat me like one unlike other people."

"Oh" was all that Tōshirō could say

As they entered into the house her father tried to jump her but she skilfully sent a kick to his head and sighed as he went crying to the portrait of Masaki saying something about his little girl growing up and having boyfriends.

Karin and Tōshirō walked up stairs and snuck into her room, which she no longer shared with Yuzu. They closed her bedroom door as she pulled him to her and he caught her lips. Breaking the kiss Tōshirō said

"You know he's kinda right"

Karin laughed slightly "So does that mean you're my boyfriend now?"

"Why not?"

"Isn't there some kind of soul reaper rule, don't date humans or whatever?"

"Yeah, but this is different, you are half shinigami and you're a substitute soul reaper so you know about soul society and all. Besides your soul looks' the same age as mine and our souls age at the same rate so there is no real reason why there would be a problem." He knew he was rationalising but at that moment he didn't care, what is the worst that could happen from a kiss?

"So you've thought about this, enough to come up with that answer" Karin said laughing slightly

"Just shut up and kiss me"

"Is that an order Hitsugaya-Taicho?"

"Yeah now you call me by my proper title, anyway like you would ever follow an order"

"Depends on the order" she said deviously

Tōshirō was about to reply before Karins mouth smashed into his. They were so preoccupied with the right here right now that neither of them noticed the arrancar with black hair and green eyes that was hidden outside the window who was closely watching them.

--

Karin dreamt she was walking though, it was night time and there was a full moon in the sky that was bright and surrounding it was millions of stars. She felt as if she was in a familiar place but didn't recognise where she was. She kept walking and the scenery constantly changed from a town to a forest then to a beach then desert, a plain of ice and then a field however the moon and the stars in the sky stayed the same. Everywhere was devoid of human life and the only light came from the sky. Finally she found herself walking up a mountain and at the very top sat a figure. The person looked up at a slightly confused Karin and asked

"Do you know my name?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"Only when you are ready to know."

"When will I be ready?"

"Now that depends entirely on you"

"How will I know when I am ready?"

"I will come to you"

Karin didn't feel like herself, it was as if she was half asleep and in a dream world. For the first time she tried to properly look at the figure, they were wearing a long black coat with white buttons, their long hair was black with white streaks running though it however one minute they looked like a young girl and the next moment Karin could have been sure it was an old man.

"Where am I? Where are we?"

"Within your subconscious"

"So that must mean you are my zanpakutō?" Karin said cautiously not sure if this was entirely real or not

Suddenly Karins' eyes opened and she was falling though the air and landed on her bed.

--

Tōshirō woke up suddenly feeling an intense spiritual pressure; he automatically ran to Karins' room and saw that Yuzu, Ishiin and Ichigo were doing the same. Karin was floating above her bed and was surrounded by a dark mist however her eyes were glowing bright like the moon. Yuzu fell to her knees as she was having trouble breathing. Suddenly the mist disappeared and her eyes turned back to normal and she fell back to her bed and sat up with a gasp.

--

**So yea, even though Karin has grown up she still plays football quite a lot. I thought that would be how Karin would react from someone having to look after her because she is independent. They also kissed. **

**So please review, tell me what you think cause I haven't got a lot so far and I would really appreciate it. Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

They were waiting for the gates to soul society to open, just him, Karin and Rangiku. Everyone else was busy however it was best that there wasn't a big get together so it didn't draw attention to their departure. Tōshirō looked over to Karin she looked worried so he held her hand behind her back so that their fingers were interlocking and said

"You ok"

"Yeah, just thinking"

"Bout what?"

"Just how much my life has changed in the last few years … You know those people who can predict when change is coming in their life? I'm not one of them. Change has a way of just walking up and punching me in the face."

"Well I suppose that's one way to put it" he said with a smirk

"Well how would you say it then?"

"Just that I don't see change coming"

"My way's better"

"Yeah, I think I agree with you" The gate from soul society opened and Unohana-Taicho and Iba – fukutaicho appeared.

"Time to go" Tōshirō said after greeting Unohana and Iba and they walked through the gate and into soul society.

--

The entered soul society, "Its' like old Japanese style buildings, it's so bright, there's almost too much white" Karin thought

"Where are we?" she asked

"We are at the first division quarters because you have to be debriefed and everything will be explained and while we are in soul society you have to …"

"Address you by your proper title, I know Hitsugaya-Taicho" Karin said with seriousness

"Umm Yea" said Tōshirō caught off guard by how serious she sounded, he didn't expect it.

"And you can't … "

"Tell anyone that we are in a relationship"

"How did you know I was going to say that?" he asked confused

"I just knew, we're in soul society now and you're a Taicho and I know that even though you did say it would be fine it is taboo if not illegal. Rangiku isn't going to say is she?"

Tōshirō said "I've threatened her with more paperwork if is even hints at it to anyone"

Smiling Karin kissed him to the cheek then they entered the room where the captain meetings are held.

"Karin Kurosaki I believe"

"Yes"

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but there is supposed to be a threat against me"

"That is correct, unfortunately you have been targeted by Aizen Sōsuke due to the abilities you displayed during your battle with the annarcar. Matsumoto – fukutaicho could you please play the CD."

_Gin: "Well that was interesting, she was able to use the black coffin kidō spell to its full destructive potential"_

_Aizen: "Yes Gin, it is strange as I myself only managed to use it to a ⅓ of its destructive power and yet she is unfamiliar to me therefore appears to be a relatively new within the last five years. This could be a problem she appears to have the strong potential. However I am curious as to why she didn't release her __zanpakutō even into shanki form. We must retrive more information about her and if necessary she must be dealt with sooner rather than later. __Kaname fetch Ulquiorra I have another mission for him.__"_

Karins' eyes widened but she tried not to show shock at the evidence that she was targeted, she didn't initially truly believe that someone would want to kill her especially when she was surrounded by more powerful shinigami every day who would pose much more of a threat to Aizen.

"You are safe while you are in soul society, however this information is top secret and no-one else in soul society knows about this except for those in this room, therefore if anyone enquires as to why you are here you are to tell them that it is for training purposes. Do you understand?"

"Yes Yamamoto- sōtaichō"

"Good you will be staying in the tenth division while you are here and you will train with the different officers depending on your abilities. Hitsugaya-Taicho Karin Kurosaki you are dismissed. Matsumoto – fukutaicho there is more I wish to discuss with you."

They exited the first division they began walking towards the tenth division.

"Its' good that you knew how to address the sōtaichō, I was actually kind of surprised." Tōshirō said

"When I am training to become a shinigami unlike my brother I have had a lot more time therefore I haven't just concentrated on the fighting skills I've studied the history and the way soul society 

operates. I am going to come here once my human body dies therefore I will need to know the way things work".

"Wow you really have changed from last time I saw you" Tōshirō was surprised it was unusual for anyone no matter Karin to be more serious than him however at the moment she was.

"Last time you saw me I was ten and thought I could kill every hollow by kicking a football at it, I have grown up a lot since then, I'm part of a war where I could as well as everyone I care about could die so I can't afford to be carefree I need to work hard and get as strong. The whole situation kinda forces you to grow up as if I'm not strong enough then everyone and everything I care about will be destroyed" she said then lowering her voice she muttered "and I won't let it happen again".

"What do you mean let it happen again?"

"It doesn't matter" she didn't think Tōshirō would hear

"Karin are you prepared fight and die for the cause of stopping Aizen" said Tōshirō who by this point was completely serious.

Karin stopped and turned to face Tōshirō with a smirk on her face "The object of war isn't to die for your cause, but to make the other bastard die for his". Then she turned and continued to walk towards the tenth squad. Tōshirō just followed, he was awe struck and didn't know what to say. At that point Hyōrinmaru, as he now tended to do, said "Funny that she even finished you sentences."

--

Ulquiorra walked in to Aizens personal quarters. "I have returned Aizen"

Aizen was facing out to the balcony with Gin and Kaname beside him, slowly spun round his chair to face Ulquiorra "What information do you have to report?"

"The girls name is Karin Kurosaki, she is not a full shinigami but a substitute shinigami, a human who has achieved shinigami powers. She has two siblings, Ichigo and Yuzu Kurosaki. They are the children of Ishiin Kurosaki however I do not know any information about their mother. She spends a lot of her time at Uraharas' Shop therefore it is fair to assume that is where she trains. There is one more thing however it is more suitable to be shown rather than told.

"Then show us"

Ulquiorra then took his eye out of his socket and crushed it in his hand into small dust like particles that sparkled as they floated though the air to Aizen, Gin and Kaname. Aizen began to smirk "It seems the young tachio has gone and got himself a girl, this is mildly entertaining and slightly unexpected, I didn't know he had it in him. So there must be something beneath his arrogant and unpleasant exterior". "Is that all?" Aizen questioned

"No, it appears that Karin Kurosaki along with Hitsugaya-tachio and Matsumoto- fukutaicho have left for soul society."

"Thank you Ulquiorra you are dismissed"

As soon as the doors shut behind Ulquiorra, Aizen turned around again to face the balcony. "Ishiin Kurosaki, now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time. It is quite unexpected."

"What is your course of action, Aizen-tachio?" Gin asked

"Karin Kurosaki has a high potential to become a problem like her brother, however after learning who their father is it is possible that Ichigo could become more powerful and his sister could become more powerful than I initially perceived. She must be dealt with before she attains her full powers."

"If she is in soul society, we will not be able to reach her" Kaname stated

"This is not necessarily true, I ensured when we left I still had resources in soul society"

"Does this mean you have a spy in soul society captain?" Gin questioned

"Yes Gin, in fact it does someone who is willing to carry out my orders"

--

Karin spent her first day doing nothing in particular just hanging around Tōshirōs' office while he was supposed to be doing paper work however it seems to him that she was doing everything to make sure he didn't get any done.

"What ya doing?"

He spun around in his chair to face her only have her suddenly sit on his knee so that their noses where inches apart and her arms were around his neck.

"What if someone comes in" he said

"They'll knock"

"Has anyone told you that you are assertive?" he questioned only to be silenced by a kiss. She pressed against him running her hands through his hair and he didn't complain. In fact it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Once she pulled away she said "What can I say, I take what I want." Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Karin rushed back to her place on the couch as Tōshirō regained his position behind the desk and said "Come in"

A subordinate walked in bowed then went up to Tōshirōs' desk and handed over some papers, Tōshirō just gave him his trademark cold glare as the subordinate said "Hitsugaya – tachio there are some papers for you to sign". The subordinate looked bemused at Tōshirō and as soon as the papers where handed back he practically ran out of the office most likely to snigger as he wouldn't dare do it in front of his young captain.

Tōshirō gave Karin a confused look as if to ask "What was up with him". Karin gave him as serious look as she could muster and said "Maybe you should go look in the mirror". When Tōshirō did he saw himself dishevelled with ruffled messed hair from when Karin had ran her hands through it and his uniform was out of place and crinkled from when Karin had pressed against him.

Karin began to laugh as a vein popped on his head "Messed up hair and a crinkled uniform very unsatisfactory standard for a tachio, I would have expected more from you."

"You're gonna pay for that"

"Ohh I'm scared, what ya gonna do give me paper work. I'm not your subordinate so that's not gonna work"

"I'll think of something" he said as he suddenly walked over to her messing up her hair

"Hey, stop that" she said to no avail

Later on, once Tōshirō had returned to his work Karin said "I think I like you more now, than I did seven years ago you were so serious now you're more fun."

--

Karin was woke early the next day and taken to her first training session, it was to be with Soifong.

"Tell me how far along you are in your development of the four forms of combat." Soifong questioned Karin

"I can perform kidō spells up to number 85 without incantation and all of them with incantation all with reasonable power except number 99 part 2 which is weak and still requires practice. I am proficient at shunpo and air steps however I could always improve. I am relatively skilled in hand to hand combat however yet again there is room for improvement. I have begun to learn shunkō and I have not yet obtained my zanpakutō and am quite poor if not hopeless in zanjutsu."

"So you were trained by Yoruichi"

"Yes along with Tessi"

"Today, I want you to work on strengthening kidō spell number 99 part 2, Ōmaeda will be supervising you for that" Soifong approached Karin and said "If you hurt or injure him don't worry about it, he's useless anyway. Just don't kill him or I'll end up with a lot of paper work. I will be back later on to help you train in shunkō however if you are able to strengthen your kidō 99 part 2 before I get back then work on casting number 86 without incantation. Karin smiled, she could tell even though he had already heard stories about how brutal and uncaring Soifong was, she already liked her.

By the end of the day Karin had realised that her first impression of Soifong was correct, she did like her. She didn't go easy she didn't treat her like a kid she was brutally honest and by the end of the day Karin was aching all over. However she had worked hard she was able to perform Kidō number 

99 part 2 up to a standard of which Soifong was satisfied with however it would need more work, she was able to perform kidō spell 86 without incantation and had progressed quite well in shunkō. Soifong had even remarked that she appeared to be naturally gifted at kidō as a passing comment.

"Today was worth every second". Karin thought

--

Karin made her way to the tenth squad office after quickly grabbing her ipod from her room because she promised she would meet Rangiku. She lay on the couch for about 15 minutes listing to her music till Rangiku appeared.

"What, could you repeat that I couldn't hear you for the music?"

"How was training?"

"It was really good, I learnt a lot"

"Good, well you're coming with me"

"Going with you were?"

"The woman's' association meeting" Rangiku said pulling her off the couch and towards the door

"But I'm not a shinigami"

"So, it doesn't matter"

"Oh ok" Karin finally replied confused after a moment of silence

By the time they had arrived at the meeting everyone was seated and Nano was standing at the podium talking

"Well is there any more issues to…"

"I'm here and look who I bought" Rangiku bubbly said interrupting Nano as she burst into the room. Nano gave her a very irritate look.

"Let me guess Karin Kurosaki, well I suppose there are no more issues to discuss" Nano said pushing up her glasses. But everyone had already dragged Karin to the couch and crowded around her asking her about half a dozen at once.

"So is it true you're from the human world. You're Ichigos' sister aren't you? How long have you been a shinigami? Are you and Hitsugaya-tachio a couple?

At last question from an unknown voice in the group everyone went silent waiting for her answer.

"Shit, shit, shit" Karin thought as she felt their piercing glares

"NO, no. Were acquaintances or friends I suppose" She glared at Rangiku, that woman was smart she knew she couldn't do anything but she knew if she dragged her here someone else would ask.

Momo didn't know why but she was relieved by Karins answer.

After another moment of silence where people seemed to digest her answer someone asked

"How come you haven't added your own personal style to the uniform, most people do even if it's only a small alteration" Karin was glad for the change of subject, she looked at the girl who asked the question. She had a big smile on her face and had long black hair which she wore down. Karin noticed the alteration she had out on to her shinigami out fit, hers was sleeveless and the length was only to her knees, she also had a large purple bow around her waist.

"To be honest" Karin replied "I didn't know you could change it"

Karin was suddenly jumped on by a girl with bright pink hair and she sat on her shoulder and said "We should give shorty-chans' uniform makeover, make it pink with bunny ears"

"Pink?" Karin thought "No way"

The room was room suddenly burst in to excited screams while people shouted out ideas "You should get a bow, it shorter to the knee, get a shall"

"Hold on hold on" Rangiku said "It has to be personal to Karin so let's see if she has any ideas"

"Well actually I have a few"

Two hours later Karin had a whole new look to her shinigami uniform which she actually kind of liked, though it was late and she needed to go to bed or she'd be too tired to train to her full potential tomorrow. As we walked out of the shinigami womens association building she bumped into the girl who had asked her why she hadn't added her who style to her uniform.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going"

"Don't worry, neither was I"

"By the way thanks for asking why I hadn't added my own personal style cause otherwise it would have been years before I would have realised"

"Don't worry bout' it, it looks good on you by the way I'm Suzume Ito the third seat of the fifth division"

"What did you think of the womans association?"

"Umm I guess it was more like a slumber party than an association set up to deal with womens issues"

"Yeah it's like that sometimes

"Well it's late so I'll see you around"

"Yeah, yeah you will, bye"

--

**Soz that this took a bit longer to put up but I think its slightly longer than the rest so far, so that will hopefully make up for it.**

**Yeah I figured Karin would like Soifong, I think she would like straight forward people who don't treat her like a kid which Soifong wouldn't. So review and tell me what you think of her new uniform. **

**Please Review!!**


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

As Karin reached the 10th division quarters she decided to go see if Tōshirō was in his office so she could show him her new uniform and of course as usual he was working late. She knocked on the door and heard his voice call "Come in".

He looked up to see who had knocked as Karin walked in. She looked different. She wore black trousers which were more like the male shinigami trousers rather than the ones like Soi Fong wore with a slit at the side, but they suited her. They hung on her hips and were held there by white cloth tied round the top of them with two pieces which fell down in front. On the top she wore a black long sleeved jacket with a zip on the front. It had a massive hood which covered her face and when she ran a hand though her hair it fell back revealing a white silk like material inside. The sleeves got wider at the bottom so that they covered her hands except for her finger tips. He was awe struck.

She walked up the table and said "Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine" just paper work as usual

"Do you have a lot?" she asked

"Yeah, but nothing I can't take a break from" he replied as her walked around the desk to her then carried on "So what happened to you?"

"Rangiku dragged me to the womens association meeting and they decide that I needed to change the uniform to meet my personality, do you like it?"

"Yeah" he replied as he lifted her on to his desk so she was sitting in front of him.

"What do you think of the top" she asked as she took off the jacket to reveal a top like Soi fongs. "Soifong suggested one like this cause if I'm going to master shunkō then there is no point of having material at the back or on my shoulders".

Tōshirō couldn't say anything so he leaned in and caught her lips and between kisses she said

"So I take it you like it?"

"Huh, huh"

"By the way what if someone one walks in"

"They'll knock"

"Oh ok" Karin said as she wrapped her arms round his shoulders and her legs round his body. He knew he had changed a lot at least when she was around Karin, in front of everyone else he was still the cold, hard, icy captain but while she was with him he was different, "Must be her bad influence" he thought to himself. Before meeting her he would have never broken soul society rules or even have had a make out secession in his office with a girl, suddenly she appeared in his life again and he 

felt as if he was prepared to break all the rules then again even seven years ago he was prepared to break the rules and tell her about hollows and shinigami.

--

Momo walked out of the Womens association building looking at her watch, it was late and Tōshirō would probably still be working. She decided that she would visit him and give him a break, sometimes he worked too hard. When she arrived at the 10th division office she decided that there would be no point knocking as he would just be doing paper work. As she walked in she saw he wasn't doing paperwork but something very different.

Karin and Tōshirō both looked up at the same time when they heard someone gasp and saw Momo standing at the door with a shocked expression.

"Shiro-chan?" Momo said puzzled

"Momo" Tōshirō said as she ran out the door and he followed her leaving Karin sitting on the desk not quite sure what to do.

"Who was that, his friend or girlfriend? Should I follow them, should I wait here?" she didn't know what to do or think. All she could do was walk back to her room and lie on her bed while listening to her ipod. Only time would tell, she would find out tomorrow and if she was his girlfriend and he was cheating on her she would kill him.

--

Tōshirō finally caught up with Momo, grabbed her arm so she couldn't get away and said "Momo, why are you running off, are you that annoyed that I didn't tell you. Momo you know how taboo it is for a soul reaper to date a human, if not illegal. I couldn't tell you"

"I know, I just need to think. I'll talk to you tomorrow" then she ran off

--

Tōshirō knocked on Karins' door but there was no answer so he went in. Karin hadn't heard him knocking on the door but she saw him coming in so she sat up and took the earphones out of her ears.

"Hi how are you" he asked

"I'm ok, who was the girl, you know from earlier on"

"That was Hinamori Momo"

"The girl you grew up with, Aizens' lieutenant?"

"My best friend, I usually tell her everything. I think she's just upset that I didn't tell her about you but she'll get over it?"

"That's good" said Karin as she let out a sigh.

"What do you mean" Tōshirō said confused

"Well for a while there I thought she might be your girlfriend" Karin said laughing

"Nice to see you think so highly of me" Tōshirō said in a sarcastic voice

"Sorry"

"Don't worry bout' it just know that I would never hurt you, ok"

"Ok"

"Well anyway, it's late and you got an early morning tomorrow so I'll let you get some sleep."

"Not yet" said Karin pulling him in for a kiss which left him stunned.

--

When Momo got home she collapsed on her bed not even turning on the lights, she felt two strong arms puling her towards a warm body.

"Kira" she said

"Yeah"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can tell me anything" Kira and Momo had been together for six years and they now lived together

"You can't tell anyone, ok"

"Sure" At his answer Momo snuggled closer to his body and he held her tighter

"Well Shiro-chan is seeing Ichigos sister, Karin. I walked into his office without knocking and caught them making out. The thing is I'm really angry at her and I don't know why. I don't even know her and I have no reason to be upset I should be happy for him."

"I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that you grew up with him and you are really close to him and then maybe you feel that she has taken your place somehow."

"But he is close to Rangiku and I don't hate her"

"Yeah, but when he was getting close to Rangiku, you were there as well whereas when he was getting close to Karin he was in the human world while you were here. So suddenly he turns up with this new person in his life who you have never met and the fact he didn't even tell you even though he may have had a reason makes you feel pushed out. So you are angry at her for taking your place. But you know you have memories together of growing up and no-one will be able to take your place for him."

"Yeah, that sounds bout' right. Kira you know me so well, I can talk to you about anything and you always know the right thing to say that's why I love you"

"I love you too"

"You got me through the whole Aizen ting and helped me see him for what he really is, you stayed my friend even though others turned their backs"

"I was manipulated too remember Gin had me fooled as well so you weren't the only one, they fooled everyone. What about Hitsugaya-tachio he helped you too."

"Yeah, he did"

They leaned together sharing in each other's presence and warmth, she kissed him on the forehead and then on the cheek the moved on to his mouth. They shared a kiss as they fell asleep in each other's arms.

--

That night Karin dreams where filled of events of the past, everything moved in slow motion and instead of her experiences when she was not a shinigami instead of taking a persons' present view point it was if she was herself watching from the side lines. She could not intervene only watch as Momo discovered the body of Aizen and as Kiras' and Momos' blades where only stopped by Tōshirō. Finally she saw as Tōshirō and Rangiku followed Kira up the steps and Aizen thrust his blade into Momo. Karin sat up suddenly with a cold sweat. "It had been a while" she thought "But at least, I don't have a fever."

--

Today was Karin's first training session with Tōshirō, of course he was teaching her in the skill of wielding a zanpakutō. Tōshirō came charging at her with his zanpakutō as she tried to dodge and attack with her own blade.

"You know, Kenpachi offered to train you"

"You mean fight me and with the very high chance of killing me"

"Yeah exactly"

Tōshirō came charging at her again as she attempted to block only to fail miserably, "This really isn't your strength."

"Yeah not right now, but it could be"

"Doubt it since at the moment you're not even mastering the basics you know it's kind of pathetic" if he was trying to piss Karin of he was succeeding. Through gritted teeth she replied "Would you say I'm skilled at kidō"

"Yeah you are I will admit that"

"How long would you say it takes the average student to learn Kidō spell number one, approximately two weeks"

"Something like that."

"It took me six months; however once I got started there was no stopping me, something just clicked in my head who's to say it won't happen for this as well."

Tōshirō charged at Karin again but only this time she blocked successfully only to be caught from the other side and fall to the ground with Tōshirō blade at her neck

"We'll see" Tōshirō replied with a smirk on his face.

The day was over and the sun was starting to set and even though Tōshirō was a good teacher but she had made no improvement, it was frustrating but she told herself "It will suddenly click then I will get it, then I'll beat the smug grin off Tōshirōs' face.

--

Rangiku had left had left for the human world after the Womans Association meeting, she had received a message from Gin that they had to meet up again and she was excited to see him. However this time she had even less time with him than the previous. She returned back to soul society and went straight to the first division. Karin and Tōshirō were already in the room waiting for her with Yamamoto- sōtaichō.

"Matsumoto- fukutaicho" Yamamoto said "What new information do you have for us?"

Yet again Rangiku had received a CD from Gin which she proceeded to put on to the player and press play. She returned to her position as the voices rang out.

_Ulquiorra: "I have returned Aizen"_

_Aizen: "What information do you have to report?"_

_Ulquiorra: __"The girls name is Karin __Kurosaki__, she is not a full shinigami but a substitute shinigami, a human who has achieved shinigami powers__. She has two siblings, Ichigo and Yuzu __Kurosaki__. __They are the children of Ishiin __Kurosaki__however I do not know any information about their mother. She spends _

_a lot of her time at __Urahara Shop__ therefore it is fair to assume that is where she trains. There is one more thing however it is more suitable to be shown rather than told._

_Aizen: __"Then show us". _After a brief cause Aizen spoke again_"It seems the young tachio has gone and got himself a girl, this is mildly entertaining and slightly unexpected, I didn't know he had it in him. So there must be something beneath his arrogant and unpleasant exterior"._

Karin and Tōshirō froze, not even daring to take a breath or look at Yamamoto, they had been discovered.

_Aizen: "Is that all?"_

_Ulquiorra: "No, it appears that __Karin __Kurosaki__ along with __Hitsugaya-tachio and __Matsumoto-__fukutaicho__ have left for soul society."_

_Aizen: "Thank you Ulquiorra you are dismissed". "Ishiin __Kurosaki__, now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time. It is quite unexpected."_

_Gin: "What is your course of action, Aizen-tachio?" _

_Aizen: __"__Karin __Kurosaki__ has a high potential to become a problem like her brother, however after learning who their father is it is possible that Ichigo could become more powerful and his sister could become more powerful than I initially perceived. She must be dealt with before she attains her full powers."_

_Kaname: __"If she is in soul society, we will not be able to reach her"_

_Aizen: "This is not necessarily true, I ensured when we left I still had resources in soul society"_

_Gin: "Does this mean you have a spy in soul society captain?" _

_Aizen: "Yes Gin, in fact it does someone who is willing to carry out my orders"_

"We have a traitor within soul society, this must be dealt with immediately." Yamamoto said with urgency "We must assemble a meeting with the captains, this information is to be kept top secret, Hitsugaya-tachio you are in charge of Karin Kurosaki's safety"

All Karin to could think of at this point was "I'm dead, It doesn't even matter if Aizen is trying to kill me because now soul society are going to do it for him."

"Matsumoto- fukutaicho, take Karin back to the 10th squad and stay with her until Hitsugaya-tachio arrives back from the captains meeting. Hitsugaya-tachio, Karin Kurosaki is there is indeed a relationship; I see no problem with it. You are dismissed" and that was all that was said.

Karin even though she found out that her life was still in dangerand she wasn't even safe in soul society, she was extremely happy, they didn't need to hide it any more. It didn't matter if she was in danger or not, as long as she was with Tōshirō. As Karin and Rangiku left the 1st division, the other captains began to appear and walk into the room.

--

**I'll explain the nightmare thing, in the first arc of the anime it shows Kains' being able to see the parrot boy's memories, basically as a shinigami she still retains that power however it has developed that instead of seeing the memories it is like she is there herself as a spectator however she can't**** intervene.**

**A bit of Kira X Momo as well I like this couple even though it's not popular but I think their personalities are similar and they would be cool together plus they have history going to the academy together and stuff. **

**In the last chapter I thought I had decribed what she was wearing but I must have forgot to put it in and I would like to thank ****ShikallllTema for pointing it out :), so can you tell me in this chapterwhat you think of her new shinigami uniform. **

**So please review and tell me what you think :) **


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Karin waited up late for Tōshirō to come in, he looked tired and worried. He made his way towards Karin.

"Are you ok Tōshirō?" Karin asked as he collapsed on the couch, he was physically and mentally exhausted.

"Yeah go get ready for bed then come to my room" he said as he got up and walked to his room. She did what he said deciding it was best not to argue.

"Tōshirō" Karin said as she knocked on the door

"Come in" she heard his voice call. As she walked in she saw she suddenly realised that she had never been in his room before. It was more like an apartment, it had its own kitchen, sitting room, bedroom and bathroom. She followed his voice in to his bedroom where he was moving his bed against the wall. Karin looked away from him for a moment blushing because all he was wearing was trousers, therefore she was able to clearly see his perfectly chiselled abdomen.

"So what do you want and why are you moving all the furniture?" she questioned

"Because you are staying here now so I can keep you safe, and I'm not moving all the furniture just the bed"

"Ok, so why are you moving the bed, then"

"So the bed is against the wall so whoever is trying to get to you will have to go through me" Tōshirō said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"Ok what?"

He sighed and said "I'm not repeating myself"

"I'm NOT staying here, I don't care how much danger I'm in, like I'm staying in the 10th division anyway, right next door to be exact. Any way I can look after myself."

He turned to look at her then simply stated "You are staying here." Then he carried on rearranging the room

"NO I'm not"

"Yeah, you are"

"Make me" Karin said and before she knew it she was on the bed beside the wall and since she could easily break any kidō spells he would put on her to keep her in place, he had tied her hands to the board so she couldn't move.

Tōshirō then lay on the bed beside her with his back facing her, he smirked a she tried to pull free. Karins face was red but this time not from blushing, this time she looked as if she as if she was about to kill someone. "Un-tie me now you short pompous arrogant little bastard." She had called him all the names of the day especially ones that referred to his lack of height. However he couldn't help 

smirking at her which annoyed her even more. If he had ever seen her have a murderous intent it was now. Eventually she had given up and said "You are going to have to eventually let me go and when you do I'm going to kill you".

He knew Karin and he knew before hand how she was going to react and that this was going to be the only way to get her to stay in the room. But he didn't care if she hated him. Well, he actually did, but he cared more about her safety. He replied to Karin "I'd like to see to try, though with the position you're in right know I don't think you'd be able to. Anyway think of what a good guy I am protecting sweet innocent little Karin" then he kissed her on the cheek.

No before was nothing after that statement now she really wanted to kill him. After about an hour or maybe two she finally calmed down and he un-tied her hands. She turned her back towards him and said "You're not staying with me 24/7."

"I'm staying with you where ever you go"

"You're not coming to the bathroom with me for a start" she said with a hint of a smirk

"Ok, well maybe not everywhere."

He pulled her closer and she felt his chest against her back and his arm wrap securely around her. She felt comfortable, she felt safe and it strangely felt really right for her to be right there at that moment.

"What happened at the captains meeting?" she enquired

"This matter is to be kept top secret, only the captains are to know as well as you and Matsumoto. It was decided that the 2nd division would investigate and we are to look out for any strange behaviour as it could someone from any of the squads, even the 10th division. So that is why you are staying here with me because even on your own in the 10th squad you are in danger and I'm not going to let anything happen to you"

"I can look after myself" she replied sleepily then drifted off to sleep in his arms

Tōshirō lay there watching Karins sleeping form, she actually looked sweet and innocent as if she hadn't been tainted by all the events in her life; her mother's death, the fact that every day her family were in danger and even now herself in particular. She looked as if she hadn't even seen death in her lifetime let alone killed an arrancar. He moved a stray hair from her peaceful face and fell asleep with her in his arms. His troubles seemed to melt away and right here right now he was the happiest he had been in a long time.

--

Over the next few weeks Karin trained with both Soifong and Tōshirō. Initially he wouldn't leave her alone at all not even with Soifong however after some very strongly chosen words from Soifong and later a blood thirsty attack from Zaraki who wanted to know what Tōshirō had done to piss off his "Cutie bear (Soifong)?" whom he had been seeing for the last few years, Tōshirō was forced to leave 

Karin alone to train with Soifong. Which Karin was kind of relieved about, she loved spending time with Tōshirō but 24/7 was suffocating.

Karin had progressed quickly with Soifong she had become a master at kidō in that time and was able to perform all the kidō without incantation however she wasn't as good as Tessi, when she didn't speak the incantation the last ten spells were weakened incredibly and she required a lot of training which would take years to reach Tessi's level. She was also starting to be able to perform the technique of shunkō would could concentrate her energy solely on her hand however it was quite strong however as it moved up her had to her back it weakened considerably to mere sparks.

She had also improved at wielding a sword and now was able to perform the basics to a reasonable standard, however she was no better than the average shinigami. However this was the skill she worked hardest at and she was determined that she would excel at it even if it took a hundred years.

Since they no longer had to hide their relationship and now that Tōshirō was seen almost everywhere with Karin and she now shared his room, people became very aware of their relationship, not to mention the fact that Rangiku had probably held a secret womens association meeting to announce the fact they were going out once she heard that Yamamoto give his approval. Even now that it had been weeks since everyone found out it was still big gossip.

"Can you believe he got a girl friend, he's so cold and mean" Karin over heard some guys say

"Why did he go for her, she isn't even good looking, I heard she is technically still alive. Really I heard they were sleeping together." Karin had certainly got some evil looks from Tōshirō fan girls. "I hear she calls him Tōshirō, how disrespectful is that". However Karin didn't let it bother her, they were just stuck up cows however that didn't mean Karin didn't want to walk over and punch them in the face.

Word of their relationship had even reached the human world.

_Flashback_

"_Tōshirō, what the hell are you __doing dating my sister and why the __**hell**__ is she sleeping in your room" Ichigo yelled as he charged at Tōshirō drew__Zangetsu__. He was so concentrated at the lack of better words "Beating the shit out of" a certain emerald eyed captain than her didn't notice his sisters stuck out foot which he tripped over only to land flat on his face__ with his sister stamping on the back of his head._

"_When is my life any of your business Ichigi? I don't go around trying to kill Orihime do I? Why are always trying to control my life? I can do whatever I want with whoever I want, got that?"_

_Not to be surprised that only calmed and stopped him for a short amount of time because Karin was HIS sister and to hell he was going to let some short punk kid have his hands all over her. He only calmed down when he heard the second recording which Rangiku had received from Gin, well maybe he didn't exactly calm down but his anger was pushed in another direction which was good enough for Tōshirō because he really didn't want to fight Ichigo even though he knew that Ichigo would never beat him._

"_I'm going to kill __that son of a bitch Aizen if he thinks he's gonna hurt my sister, I'll kick his crap in!" He was fully prepared to run off to _Hueco Mundo again until Karin kicked him so hard in the face for being so stupid that he was knocked out.

_End Flashback _

--

"Remember not just to block you need to look for your opponents weaknesses and attack as well" Tōshirō said

"I have tried attacking and every time I do, I get told I haven't defended my weak spots, do you expect me to do it at the same time or something" Karin replied clearly becoming frustrated

"Yes"

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"You'll learn"

"That doesn't exactly help"

"You will learn it'll just take some time, right I'm going to come at you again"

"Use your shanki this time"

"No, why would you want me to?"

"I just want to see how I do "

"No" he stated adamantly

"Why are you chicken sorry you're not a chicken, you're a midget. Actually you're even smaller than a midget you're a SUPER MIDGET shiro-chan." Karin said "You just don't want me to kick your ass"

"Fine, if you want me to release my shanki, I will. Sit upon the frozen heavens, _Hyōrinmaru!_" Tōshirō said clearly annoyed as multiple vines popped out of his head and Karin smirked, she knew how to push his buttons.

He charged at her with force, she must have really pissed him off, she was good. Karin was able to shunpo out of the way in time however she wasn't expecting his second attack and she was knocked unconscious.

"Shit" Tōshirō thought I didn't mean to go so hard on her he ran over to an unconscious Karin, "Shit, why does she have to be able to piss me off so I can't think straight"

--

Karin found herself lying on the ground looking up to the clear moon and millions of stars in the sky "It's so beautiful" she said to herself. Suddenly she felt someone grab her and pull her to her feet. Once up she saw she was in surroundings completely different to before. She was on a beach on an island which was completely surrounded by water and she was facing her zanpakutō.

"Tell me, why did you become a soul reaper?"

After a moment Karin answered "To protect those around me, my friends, my family even those I have never met, even to protect myself".

"But why?" her zanpakutō questioned

Karin silently thought for a moment then said "To stop my life being torn apart, or anyone else's. My mum was killed by a hollow and that destroyed my family, it's why my dad is so annoyingly over happy as he is trying to compensate for her not being there. Its why until recently my brother never smiled and it' why Yuzu had to take her place by cooking and looking after us. It should have never been like that and I refuse to let it happen again.

"Very well, do you know my name" Karin looked up slightly confused then smiled and answered

"Yes, yes I do"

"Then go, train and protect!"

--

Tōshirō suddenly felt a force pushing him back and he want flying back 20 meters. He then saw Karin was on her feet again and in a fighting stance and said

"If you don't attack me I'll attack you" and before Tōshirō could react he heard her call out "The stars shine but the shadows encroach all around, Senka Hoshi".

Suddenly he was enveloped by a black shadow and he felt all his spiritual energy being drained until he blacked out. Karin put on a really goofy smile and asked no one in particular "Did I win?" then she collapsed due to sheer exhaustion. Tōshirō woke up a few minutes later to see Karin lying on the ground. He walked over to her to see her newly acquired zanpakutō resting in her hand. He picked her up and carried her to the fourth squad. He couldn't help but smile at her, she had done it.

--

Karin woke up in the fourth squad and all her cuts and bruises she had earned during the days training were healed. As she looked round the room trying to remember what happened, she suddenly noticed a zanpakutō leaning against the wall. But it wasn't just any zanpakutō, it was hers.

The Katana (samurai sword) had a black handle with silver thread which formed the shapes of stars and moons. The hilt was silver with inlaid phases of the moon and the scabbard was pure black 

except the tip which was silver. The blade of her zanpakutō was black and looked very similar to Ichigos' bankai. Karin had been so intent on studying the sealed state of her zanpakutō that she didn't notice Tōshirō come in until he sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. She leaned back into him. "I finally did it." Karin said

"Yeah, you did" he replied

"I'm hungry"

"I've got some paperwork I got to quickly finish, then we'll go get lunch"

"Tōshirō?"

"Yeah"

"I told you I would kicked your ass"

"You hardly kicked my ass, you simply won cause' I didn't expect you to suddenly achieve shanki."

"Sure that's your excuse" Karin replied as he kicked he in the ass

"Don't kick me in the ass midget"

"I'm taller than you!"

"Well you're still a midget to me."

--

As Tōshirō and Karin exited the fourth division they ran into Suzume Ito (the third seat of the fifth division)

"Hi Karin, I heard you achieved your zanpakutō"

"Yeah, I did. I'm really happy about it"

"Well, I'm on my way to grab lunch I should go, or even better you could grab lunch with me?"

"Yeah sure" Karin said before Tōshirō could say anything. She then leaned in to Tōshirō and whispered in his ear "I'll be fine; I'm going to a sandwich bar where there will be tonnes of people anyway I can look after myself and I have my zanpakutō"

"Fine" he replied with slight reluctantly and let her go. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop her.

--

After Suzume and Karin had bought their sandwiches and sat down they began to talking "So how long have you been a soul reaper" Karin asked

"About sixty years, well fifty four if you take away the six years I was in the academy"

"So have you always been in the fifth squad? Wait hold that I'll be back in a minute, I need to get some salt."

"Ok"

Karin go up and walked over to far end of the bar to get some salt while Suzume pulled a vile and poured the colourless liquid into Karins drink and put the vile back into her pocket. When Karin got back to table and sat down and said "So, you where saying"

"Yea, I've always been in squad five and worked my way up the ranks till I was third seat"

"Cool"

"So what squad would you like to be in? I haven't really thought about it but I suppose the second squad or the kidō corps"

"Oh ryt, cool"

Once they finished their lunch Karin walked back to the tenth squad offices while Suzume said she had to go the opposite direction.

--

**Yeah so even though Karin and ****Tōshirō are sleeping in the same bed they Aren't having sex, they are fully clothed or almost except for Tōshirō not wearing a t-shirt. I don't think Tōshirō would have thought of what people will have assumed and Karin kinda has but then she's the type of person who doesn't care what people think but it still annoys her enough to want to punch them.**

**I should also explain Karin's ****zanpakutō:-**

**Hoshi is the male Japanese kanji for star**

**Senka is a female Siberian name meaning sh****adow**

**It references to a dark star which is a dead sun which absorbs light which relates to the power of the ****zanpakutō. The fact that I use shadow instead of dark also relates to one of its abilities, a shadows ability to transform shape according to what the shape of the object is.**

**So review and tell me what you think of this chapter and Karin's ****zanpakutō and stuff. **

**So review please!!**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

As Karin walked in to the tenth squad offices she saw Tōshirō sitting at his desk finishing paper work. He looked up to see Karin entering his office and gave her a small smile. "So what are we going to do to celebrate you achieving your zanpakutō" Tōshirō asked pulling Karin on to his lap.

"How about we play a game of football" Karin replied standing up and pulling Tōshirō out the door and to a nearby field "I haven't played since I came to soul society".

Tōshirō smirked slightly and said to himself "She'll never change."

--

Karin manoeuvred down the field dribbling the ball in an attempt to score a goal between two trees. She was so close until Tōshirō skilfully stole the ball and kicked it up the field.

"That's cheating, you're not allowed to use shunpo" Karin said angrily

"Who say's?"

"Yeah cause you see Cristiano Ronaldo shunpoing up and down the football pitch all the time"

"But we're in soul society same game different rules"

"Fine then we can use shunpo, I probably faster than you any way midget"

"I'm not a midget!"

"You should seriously get over your height issues, you are growing taller"

Karin suddenly felt really weak and fell to the ground, Tōshirō saw this and instinctively reached out to grab her. He caught hold of her before she hit the ground. She looked deathly pale and she whispered "I don't feel right." before she closed her eyes and went unconscious.

--

Tōshirō shunpoed straight to the fourth division, seeing the unconscious Karin Unohana immediately directed Tōshirō to the nearest free room where he set her on the bed. She was cold and sweat particles had started to form on her forehead. Tōshirō had to leave the room and wait outside to let Unohana and Isane work. He waited for an hour hating the fact he couldn't do anything to help, until Unohana appeared out of the room.

"Karins condition has stabilized, however at this moment the outcome is still uncertain, we have to go to a captains meeting now however Isane is capable and will look after her."

"I should have looked after her better, I was supposed to protect her. I failed, I FAILED" Tōshirō shouted in his head

His thoughts were interrupted as Unohana put her hand on his shoulder and said in a calm voice "She'll be fine"

As they walked in to the meeting room they took their place beside the other captains.

"Unohana-tachio please up date us on Karins' condition" Yamamoto said

"Karins condition has stabilised however she appears to have been poisoned with Doku-ka. It is a poison created from the zap of a rare flower and is has a slow to create. The poison destroys the infected vital organs. The poison initially is spread through the body quickly so the initial reactions take effect within the first hour of being poisoned however as it progresses its' speed slows down. There are only two ways that the poison could have been distributed in to Karins body, either through injection or through ingestion. Since there are no needle marks on Karins' body and the poison used is clear, odourless and tasteless I feel it is safe to assume that it was ingested most likely though her food or drink, being spiked. Due to the nature of the poison I also feel it is safe to assume that it was ingested at some point earlier on in the day"

Tōshirō ears suddenly picked up at this and in his mind he said "Suzume". He was shaking and he knew if he spoke it would make it more obvious as his voice would shake to.

"Since it appears it was ingested even though there is a high chance of Karin not making it" at which Tōshirō heart sank "There is better chance of survival than if it was injected especially if it was distributed with food or drink as there is a smaller chance of Karin ingesting all of the poison and therefore increasing her likely hood of survival, I approximate at 30"

"Why would Aizen risk Karin surviving, it sounds to me as if they were careless, maybe in a rush to get the job done" Shunsui asked

Tōshirō finally able to control himself said "Today Karin achieved her zanpakutō today, therefore forcing the assailant to act. If the poison was distributed to day and ingested through food as Unohana-tachio suggested, Karin had lunch today with Suzume Ito the third seat of the fifth division"

Yamamoto immediately called in a guard and ordered the arrest of the third seat of the fifth division however fifteen minutes later when the guard returned he said "It appears that Suzume Ito the third seat of the fifth division is no longer in the Seireitei nor soul society. Some her possessions from her room are missing and there is no trace of her reiatsu."

The guard was dismissed and Yamamoto said "Suzume Ito is now a traitor of soul society until proved otherwise, we are now to assume that all along she has been working for Aizen within our walls. Soifong your division is now in charge of investigating her disappearance along with her actions and any contact she may have had with Aizen. This meeting is dismissed"

--

Suzume Ito walked into Aizens throne room, on either side she was surrounded by annarcars.

"Is the job done?" Aizen asked

"It is done Aizen-sama, she will be dead within the next few weeks, the poison is slow to react but there is no cure and will give Tōshirō enough time to watch her as she fade away to nothing"

"Well done, Suzume" Aizen said suddenly in front of her. He put his hand on her cheek which he rubbed gently. "Come Ulquiorra, show Suzume where she will be staying". Before she turned to leave she bowed to Aizen, then followed Ulquiorra out of the door". As soon as she was out of ear shot Aizen turned to Gin and said "I will never get tired of manipulation, it is so entertaining to control someone so easily. They are like puppets on strings." He smirked.

--

Karin opened her eyes she was in a valley with mountains surrounding her. She suddenly heard a voice behind her. "Well that was smart of you, yeah my life's in danger so I'm going to go have lunch with the person who's trying to kill me"

"Suzume, tried to kill me?"

"Yeah she poisoned you, ya moron"

"Well I didn't know that!"

"Yeah but you knew she was third seat in the squad which Aizen used to be tachio of"

"Why are you being so scarastic, the last two times you had that whole silent knowledge thing going on"

"Yeah, but the first couple of times you talk to your zanpakutō its supposed to be all mystical and important so I acted like that so it would be. Well I suppose technically it's your first three times, but anyway"

"Oh ryt, ok. So she tried to kill me?"

"She still might succeed"

"So am I in a coma or something?"

"One point for the girl who was stupid to go have lunch with the person who was trying to kill her, who knows if you make it out of this maybe you and Aizen can go have a chat over dinner"

"Ok, I get it I'm stupid and moronic, are you gonna keep going on about it or are you gonna tell me how to get out this mess"

"Fine, basically you gotta fight the poison and the only way you are going to do that is to get a hell of a lot better at handling you sword cause' you suck. It is seriously embarrassing for me to have someone that actually sucks as bad as you do. Like what is wrong with you are you that…."

"Right I get it I suck" interrupted an increasingly annoyed Karin "Now are you going to shut up and help me or what"

"Fine, no need to get so pissed off I was just saying"

"No, you were taking the piss. Now let's just get on with this".

"All right, basically to train you are going to fight Nirak and I'm going to point out what you're doing wrong and tell you what to do which you better do cause if you don't you will get hurt"

"Who's Nirak?" Karin questioned but her question was quickly answered as a girl flu at Karin with a sword that looked exactly like Karins but only white. Karin then notice the girl also looked exactly the same as her only she was pure white. "My inner hollow" Karin whispered as the girl gave her an evil smirk and went to attack her.

--

Tōshirō sat beside Karins bed every day, he had even gotten into the habit of bringing paperwork with him to ensure he could spend longer with her. She was so calm and peaceful only thing wrong with that was that Karin was anything but calm and peaceful. She lost her temper and was loud and he missed that, he even missed the way she took the piss out of him and called him midget.

Every day was the same. He got up went to see her, sat beside her doing paper work and hoping for some improvement. Every so often a member of fourth squad would come in to check her vitals and later on in the evening the same people would visit her, her family and friends she had made in soul society. Even Soifong came to visit her every couple of nights and in her own words swore to kill "The son of a bitch, Aizen and his bitch Suzume". Even though it approached three weeks nothing changed, she still remained hooked up to the ventilator with wires stuck into her and all he could do was sit with her and say "I'm so sorry, I was supposed to protect you and I failed and now I may never have another chance. I promise you this I am going to kill Aizen".

He blamed himself and the worst thing of all was that no-one else seemed to. Not even the one person he had relied on to. All Ichigo had said was "It's not your fault, I should have stopped her from becoming a soul reaper", he had even blamed himself. Everyone kept telling him that Karin was strong and she was going to beat this but they didn't know, they were just saying that to make him feel better. They were empty words and all they did was make him feel worse. "Why are they trying to make me feel better I'm not the one in a coma".

--

Karin was uncertain of how long she had been here for, time seemed to be irrelevant but she knew she was improving far quicker than she had ever done with Tōshirō. "I guess that Senka Hoshi is a better teacher than Tōshirō, or it could be that Tōshirō never really fought me or put me in danger whereas here if I make one wrong move Nirak will take full advantage of it so I will end up with a nice deep painful cut, if I'm lucky." Karin thought.

Her training was intense; she fought in all conditions from sweltering heat to the freeing conditions of the arctic. Nirak attacked Karin which she was able to easily block however she quickly found 

herself with a gash across her stomach. "Moron, you never block like that, cause you leave yourself wide open and then your enemy will take the opportunity and do something along the lines of what Nirak just did. Think Kurosaki before you act and think quick" Karin was bent over with one arm across her stomach while trying to fend off Nirak with her zanpakutō in the other. Fortunately for her Senka Hoshi called out "Lets' take a break".

Karin sat down to heal her wounds, she had progressed far but not far enough, as she had only beat Nirak once. She had become familiar with her zanpakutō and appreciated it in all its glory. It was perfectly balanced and the weight suited her perfectly. In her shinigami form it was too long to carry at her side so like Tōshirō she carried it on her back via a black and silver sash. Its shanki form was similar to its sealed state the only difference was that the black didn't look solid but rather a black shadow with bright shining particles which moved like they were floating in air which kind of reminded Karin of stars. Karin quickly moved as she heard Senka Hoshi say "Break was over." She knew Nirak wouldn't hesitate a second to strike and she needed to be aware of her surroundings due to one of the training methods was to change the area for example from a wide and open field to a small tight ally way so Karin would be forced to immediately adapt and change her tactics.

Karin knew she had to be ready soon to fight or else she would never escape as the longer she was in the coma the stronger the poison became and the harder it would be to escape. She refused to let Aizen win.

--

**Nothing much to say about this chapter except that Nirak is Karin spelt backwards and ****Doku-ka**** should mean poison flower.**

**So please review!!**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

It was approaching a month since Karin went into the coma and Tōshirō knew as time went by the likely hood of her coming out decreased. Tōshirō heard the door open and close behind him, he expected that it was a member of squad four on their routine vital check.

He heard a voice behind him from someone he didn't expect "Shiro-chan". He turned round to see Momo standing at the door "Is it alright to come in?"

"Yeah, sure" he replied still kind of shocked. The last time he had seem Momo was the night she had walked in on him and Karin.

She walked up to the bed and looked at Karin "How is she?" she asked

"Not good" was his only reply

"Shiro-chan" Momo said looking at him "I'm sorry, I really am" and after a moment of silence she carried on "I'm sorry when I walked in and ran off, I was just kind of shocked and umm, you're like a little brother to me and it was the last thing I expected to see. I didn't react how I should have and I apologise for that."

"It's ok Momo, it wasn't your fault I probably should have told you. We tell each other everything"

"When she wakes up I would like to meet her, properly I mean."

"You mean if she wakes up." Tōshirō stated

"No I mean when"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Does she have a strong spirit?"

"Yes, she is ferocious; she had the strongest spirit of anyone I've ever met"

"Does she have a reason to wake up?"

"Yes, tones of reasons"

"Then she'll wake up, because she'll fight to the end and she won't give up especially if she has so much to live for and Tōshirō you shouldn't blame yourself. From what I've heard from people who know her she wouldn't want you to and at the moment she is probably calling herself all the names of the day saying why the hell she was stupid enough to get herself poisoned".

Momo then turned around and walked to the door.

"Momo wait" Tōshirō called and as she turned to face him he said "Thanks" then he turned around to look at Karin as she walked out the door knowing at least she had helped, even slightly.

--

Karin had not been beaten by Nirak in a week however as the week progressed it took less and less time until finally Senka Hoshi said "Yo you're ready, to fight. Just remember one important thing don't get killed cause just encase you hadn't realised yet if you get killed so will I and Nirak, though taking into consideration you level of intellect you probably haven't"

"You're a sarcastic bitch or bastard or whatever gender you are deciding to be today."

"We'll I'm part of your soul and share your personality traits, so what does that say about you. You even wear shinigami guys trousers and your more in to sports i.e. football than most girls your age."

"Shut up"

"Anyway, remember don't get killed cause I will personally get very pissed"

"Ok, I get if at all possible avoid dying cause it's bad"

"There you go, you understood so you possess some sort of brain, that's promising."

Suddenly they were back in the valley they had started off in only there was a massive bug like hollow, "Oh and by the way neither me nor Nirak can intervene so your own your own"

"One question, why is the poison a bug like hollow thing?"

"You see there you go you get my hopes up that you actually possess a brain then you go and ask a stupid question like that. It looks like that because that is what you imagine it as, this isn't a physical battle but rather a psychological one i.e. of you can beat this then you have beaten the poison and if you lose your mind will die"

"So if I imagine it as something else it will change?"

"Yes"

"Ok, the stars shine but the shadows encroach all around, Senka Hoshi" Karin said then she charged

As she ran to attack the bug like hollow it suddenly changed shape into a tall skinny man with dark glasses, who was carrying a sword. As Karin reached him their swards clashed together which sent vibrations through Karins whole body and forced her to jump back. The man ran to attack her at amazing speed and force at which she was able to block however it meant that she didn't notice the smaller blade which he carried in his other hand until it was too late as it was thrust into her waist leaving a deep wound with blood flowing down her side.

"Shit" Karin said clutching her side, she was already breathing heavy and sweat particles were forming. He moved at lightning speed to drive his sword into the base of her lungs but this time she paid attention to both blades and jumped high as he ran at her so during her descent she left a deep wound on his shoulder blade.

She turned round to attack again only to find that they were in a tight ally way where she wouldn't be able to use her sword as it is. She knew she would have to use her swords first ability". Suddenly her sword changed shape and became shorter version of its self. She ran at the man now standing unable to use his blade however before she reached him the surroundings changed to the football 

pitch in Karakura Town so that he was able to more in time to avoid a fatal wound however he was now bleeding profusely. Karin knew it was time to end it because her vision was dimming and blood was spilling out of her wound at the side, "black hole" she roared and suddenly the figure was enveloped in a black shadow which absorbed all his spiritual energy leaving him unable to fight. But instead of simply falling to the ground unable to fight he faded away slowly as his energy was completely drained.

Her side was enveloped in a blue kidō heeling spell, Senka Hosshi walked up to and said "Well done". Then Nirak walked up to Karin and said something which surprised her "Not bad kid". That was the last thing she heard before she woke up.

--

She opened her eyes to find herself staring at the ceiling of the one of the forth squad hospital rooms. She felt weird there seemed to be something breathing for her. She sat up to see Tōshirō lying sleeping in the corner. Even though it was against her very nature she couldn't help but think "Awww, he's so cute." She took of the mask from around her face and began to pull the wires of her skin. She got up and walked over to Tōshirō.

"Tōshirō, wake up" she said poking him

Tōshirō sat up and blinked a couple of times before he realised that Karin was standing right in front of him. She suddenly grabbed her and pulled her towards him, he couldn't be sure if this was real or not but he didn't want to let go. He nuzzled his head in her hair and took in every part of her, the feel of her hair against his face, her weight of her leaning on him and her smell. He didn't want to forget any of it.

"I'm so sorry" he said

"For what" she asked as he finally let go of her and she sat on his knee.

He held her close and said "I should have protected you, I was supposed to and I failed. You didn't fail" she lifted his chin so that his eyes met hers "I'm alive and I'm fine" then she kissed him with all the passion she could muster and he kissed back in kind.

"I've missed you." He said and after a moment of silence where he took in her body heat he carried on "What are we going to do? You aren't even safe in soul society with me protecting you, so what are we going to?"

After a moment of silence Karin whispered to herself "Quando omni flunkus moritati"

"What?" Tōshirō asked confused

"When all else fails play dead, after this he will think I'm dead so lets' not give him any reason to think otherwise"

"How would that even work?"

"Simple you put out that I'm dead then I'll live somewhere where nobody goes like … central 46 or even better you know the training ground under Sōkyoku hill. I stay hidden with only certain people knowing that I'm alive i.e. Unohana, Yamamoto, you, my father Ichigo, Yuzu and Soifong."

"I get the rest but why Soifong?"

"Cause' I'm going to need someone to help me train to use shunkō."

"Right, go back to the bed and lie down and I'll go talk to Unohana and Yamamoto. I'll be back in an hour"

--

By the end of that day Karin had been secretly moved to the training grounds under Sōkyoku hill. The training ground was ideal as when it was first created by Urahara there were protections put on it to ensure that others don't sense the spiritual power coming from it during training or hear the training. This meant that Karin only had to put a protection barrier up to prevent unwanted people from getting in. The next day Karins' death was announced.

--

**I know this chapter is shorter than most of the rest but hopefully it is ok. I like Momo as a character and I think she is like a best friend older sister relation to ****Tōshirō rather than a girl friend and if anyone could say something to help him it would be her.**

**So please review tell me what you think good points and bad points and how I could improve.**

.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

In the first week nobody came to see Karin as it was dangerous as they may lead someone to her. This was the right thing to do she told herself and she needed to get stronger and she couldn't do that always looking over her shoulder. The first person who came to visit her was Tōshirō.

"How are you?" Karin asked

"I'm ok"

"What's happening in soul society and how is my family?"

"Everyone who needs to know that you are alive knows including your brother and sister. Yamamoto initially wanted to keep it from them but we couldn't leave them in the dark and the fact that they know makes it easier to hide. However only me, Yamamoto and Soi Fong know where you are"

"Ok at least they aren't mourning me I don't think I could do that do them, it would be too cruel"

"Yeah, all of soul society is under the impression that you died and I can't walk past anyone without them giving my looks of sympathy. I kind of feel bad for Rangiku cause' she is really upset and is actually doing paper work. Though it was the right thing to do"

"Sometimes I'm not so sure"

Tōshirō grabbed her hand and said "It was, now we better train, I have only a certain amount of time".

"Right"

"Release your Shanki and I'll attack you, it has been a while so we'll have to see how much you still remember"

"Ahhhh" he roared, flying directly towards her. She blocked his attack easily then pulled back swinging her sealed zanpakutō and bringing it to an abrupt halt a mere inch from his shoulder. Tōshirō stood there trying to figure out what just happened until he finally questioned "When the hell did you get good?"

"What did you think I was doing when I was in that coma, I was learning how to wield my zanpakutō and who better to teach me than my zanpakutō spirit"

"So what you're telling me is that you want me to release my shanki and attack you"

"Exactly"

"Fair enough" Tōshirō said with a smirk "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru"

"The stars shine but the shadows encroach all around, Senka Hoshi".

Tōshirō ran towards Karin and the huge ice dragon flew threateningly towards her, she jumped high in the air to avoid hit. However Tōshirō pulled back, then swung again with even more force so Karin had no other alternative to take it head on. Tōshirō saw Karins' zanpakutō change shape. It flattened 

to almost like a shield. However only then did he notice that the blade had yet again changed shape and grew long and came directly for him. He missed the hit by inches.

He used the crescent shaped blade to hold the sword in place but and put his blade at her neck. "You have got a lot better but you've still got a while yet before you are at the level where you can start learning bankai"

--

It approached three months since Karin had been in the cave, Tōshirō and Soifong alternated in their days to train Karin and once a week she was given a day off from training. Sometimes during her days off Tōshirō visited her and they hung out and played football. However often he wasn't able to as Rangiku became increasing worried as he began to fall behind his paperwork and never seemed to be in the office anymore. She even tried to follow him a couple of times. On those days Karin would listen to music and dwell on her life on earth, it had been seven months since she had been home or saw her family all together. She missed them.

Yesterday she had trained with Soifong now today it was Tōshirō. She sat looked out onto the landscape which had become familiar to her. Since coming into the cave she had greatly progressed in all of the skills. She was able to now able to concentrate her spiritual energy on her back with great strength however controlling it was another matter completely. However out of all the skills she had improved most at zanpakutō.

Suddenly Karin heard Tōshirōs feet quietly hit the ground, she looked up from the place of foliage in the forest she was staring at to smile at him. He looked exhausted. Karin guessed it was trying to catch up on paper work he had fallen behind because he was teaching her. Unlike Soifong he wouldn't just pass it on to his subordinates, mainly because he knew they wouldn't do it.

"You look tired" Karin said worriedly as she stood up to kiss him

"It's nothing, I'm fine but as always we have limited time so we better get started" he replied as they walked into the cave. "You ready"

"I'm always ready" Karin said replacing her worried tone with one of seduction. Tōshirō simply smirked at her.

Releasing Hyōrinmaru suddenly Tōshirō charged at Karin putting the pull force of his shanki into his attack while her back was facing him. But Karin back flipped high above Tōshirō and Hyōrinmaru releasing her zanpakutō in mid air.

She aimed to hold her blade at the back of his neck however he shunpoed to right in front of her and swung Hyōrinmaru again. It hit her and she was covered in ice, however she seemed to be in two places at once. There was another Karin shunpoed across his line of vision bringing her blade across him as she did. She left a rip right through his uniform on his chest however there wasn't even a scratch on the skin, he didn't even feel the blade as she done it.

Her back was towards him and she turned her head to look at him with a devious smirk. Then all of a sudden she disappeared "Shit" she's been hiding how much she has improved in shunpo.

She appeared behind him making him do a 180 degree turn to face her, "What's wrong Hitsugaya-taicho? Am I giving you the run around?" then after a moment of silence waiting for him to replay of which he didn't she continued "I know for a fact that I'm not as you aren't even fighting to your full potential just using your shanki"

"So you want me to attack you as if this wasn't just training?"

"I want more of a challenge? You aren't helping me by holding back because I can guarantee that no annarcar will do that! Neither will Aizen!"

He looked at her and saw how serious she was "Ok"

Suddenly he was surrounded by blue spiritual energy which shone brightly and at the same time Karin gathered her spiritual energy around her only it was black with shinny particles within it. They flew at each other till their blades clashed together with equal force sending them both skidding backwards several meters.

Tōshirō shunpoed behind her aiming to hold Hyōrinmaru to her back and win, however she back flipped over his head and swung 180 degrees towards his torso however with precision she stopped her blade just an inch from his skin and yelled out "black hole". He saw surrounded by the black shadow which sucked away his spiritual energy till he was no longer able to fight and fell to the ground.

--

Once he opened his eyes he looked up to see Karin with annoying goofy smile "So how did I do?" she asked

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down so she was sitting on top of him "You did ok"

"Just ok?"

"Fine you did good, how where you in two places at once?"

"It's a technique Yoruchi developed and taught me, it's called utsusemi, it allows a person to move out of harms' way by creating another image of themselves and by the way I kicked your ass."

"You hardly kicked …" he was cut off as Karins lips met his as she kissed him. After a moment she pulled away and said with a smirk "Be happy with the fact that if this was a proper battle rather than just training you would be able to easily defeat me, if you really wanted to win you just had to use your bankai. I've still got a long way to go before I can beat you properly. But rest assured that someday I will."

Karin suddenly let out a gasp of surprise as he pulled her head down to meet his, their mouths met and their tongues explored intertwined and fought for dominance. "Tōshirō." she moaned into his 

mouth, only their need for oxygen forced them to break apart. Karin began nibbling at his neck and at that Tōshirō let out a low groan which made her smirk.

Tōshirō switched their position so that he was on top, he held her hands above her head and began attacking her collar bone.

"Tōshirō" Karin said "This is kind of uncomfortable"

"Sorry" said Tōshirō, sitting up disappointed

"No, not that" she replied as she sat up to capture his lips again "It's just the stones are sticking into my back."

"Oh ryt" said Tōshirō with a smirk

He quickly had her pinned against the mattress she slept on. He fixed her hands above her head by clasping her wrists with one hand as he ran the other over her curves. His touch was electrifying. He looked down at her with his emerald eyes, to see her lips were slightly swollen due his assault, her breathing was heavy and she bit her bottom lip.

He bent down to her ear and whispered "You are so beautiful ". She smiled slightly and whispered back "Are you trying to seduce me, Hitsugaya-taicho? Cuz you're going to have to try harder than that.", before forcing him to roll over so that she was on top straddling him so he couldn't easily switch their positions again and gain control. She kissed his jaw line while her hands worked on taking off his white captain's haori and undoing the sash at his waist.

Tōshirō worked at taking her top off and it wasn't long before they were both only their underwear. They stopped to look at each other slightly embarrassed and feeling awkward. Karin was blushing and she looked away. Tōshirō sat up, took her chin and bought her so that she was looking directly into his eyes. He then kissed her passionately and held onto the back on her head while he ran a finger down her spin which sent tingles through her whole body. In return she ground herself against his hardening member at which Tōshirō let out a moan. He then said with a smirk "Really I thought it was working pretty well."

Karin moved her hand down Tōshirō chest as she reached his growing erection, she felt his body stiffen. He let out a small moan as she removed his underpants and ran her hand up and down his length. As she was doing this she kissed down his chest and then took him in her mouth, initially she was unsure but grew more confident as she saw Tōshirōs reaction. She bobbed up and down sending pleasure though his whole body. Karin felt Tōshirōs hand tangle through her hair. He was using all his power of will not to thrust his hips. "Karin" Tōshirō whispered in a warning tone and she removed herself.

As soon as she sat up he rolled her over so that he was now on top and said "My turn". He began kissing the side of her mouth and worked down her neck leaving a trail of red marks. Karin lifted her legs and wrapped them round Tōshirō. She lost her breath and entangled her hands in her hair as he skilfully removed her bra and let his mouth descended on a breast, licking the nipple while his free hand messaged the other. Tōshirō never realised before how pleasurable it was to listen to her moan and have her arch into him.

Pulling himself away from her breasts, he moved his hands down to massage her thighs. He moved his way up to where she wanted him most. He rubbed his hand over her aware that there was now only underwear separating them. He removed her underwear and slid a single finger inside of her which he pumped in an out until he felt her walls clench then he removed his finger.

Looking down at her he said "Are you sure this might hurt"

Her midnight eyes met his and she said "I know, I'm ready as long as it's with you."

He slid forward as he entered her slowly using her hips as leverage. A sudden pain ripped through her and clutch on Tōshirō tightened. He looked at her as she bit into her lip, he gaze rose to meet his and his and she said "It's ok just keeping going slowly". The pain was replaced by a sudden sensation of pleasure which made her whole back arch off the mattress and towards him. He set a rhythmic pace that had Karin leaving scratch marks on his back. "Tōshirō, harder and faster" she demanded. All he could do was comply especially as he legs which were wrapped around him made him do so.

"Tōshirō" Karin moaned.

"Karin, look at me," Tōshirō demanded. She stared in to his emerald eyes and for the first time he saw how vulnerable she was and unsure. He ran a hand though her now sweaty hair and murmured "You're perfect "in her ear as he moved his hand down to rub her nub. "Tōshirō" she moaned as she came at the same time as him.

They both collapsed on the mattress beside each other with their feet entangled with erratic breathing.

"Karin?"

"Yeah"

"I think you are ready to learn bankai" Tōshirō said before pulling her closer and tightening his grip possessively. Neither of them planned it but neither of them regretted it either. He fell asleep beside her as she did the same barely able to keep her eyes open. By the time Karin woke up in the morning he was gone.

--

**Sorry it took longer to update I've been really busy lately. Ok so this is the first lemon I ever wrote, I was a bit awkward writing it but hopefully it doesn't show and is good enough. By this point assume that Karin is 18 and sometime during living in the training ground cave she turned 18 but obviously her family or anything couldn't really visit her to celebrate.**

**So please review!**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

"So you've returned from the dead" Yoruchi said with a smirk

"You say that like you thought I was dead"

"Yeah, Kisuke and I did suspect different, but we weren't certain. So you are ready to learn your bankai."

"Yep"

"Hitsugaya-taicho has said you have reached the level necessary, so since you have time restrictions you will learn the same way that your brother did. This is tenshintai" Yoruchi said as she stood beside a human shaped white object. "It's an important spiritual tool, it draws out the zanpakutō so that it manifests into our world. If you stab the tenshintai with your zanpakutō it can forcibly bring it into the manifested state. Materialization lasts for about one day. If used more than three times consecutively, it is fatal. Therefore you need to achieve bankai within three days. Do you understand?"

"Yes"

"Are you still willing to attempt to achieve bankai in this way?"

"Yes" Karin said immediately stabbing Senka Hoshi into in to the tenshintai "I don't have ten years to spare to learn bankai not including the years after that which it would require for experience."

Suddenly Senka Hoshi appeared "So you're going to try and beat me into submission, well it isn't gonna happen with a brain capacity like yours. You need to be relatively intelligent and have more than half a cell for a brain."

"SHUT THE HELL UP"

"And you're definitely not going to win with a temper like that"

Karins face was going red with anger as Tōshirō who had been watching the whole time tried not to laugh.

"Ok so here's the deal" suddenly swords appeared from the ground "These are zanpakutōs of different shinigami in their sealed state. When you pick one up you will be allowed to release it into shanki however you must know release and the name of the zanpakutō to be able to use the shanki. You have to be able to release one of these zanpakutō and use it to defeat me however once the blade has broken you can't use it again therefore you will have to move on to the next. You can't use me however I will. Got it?"

"Yea"

"Good" said Senka Hoshi suddenly springing at Karin who only narrowly dodged out of the way. "Let the fun begin".

"Wait, how I will know who the zanpakutō belongs to?"

"You'll figure it out, I thought you said you had more than half a brain cell"

Karin jumped back grabbing the first zanpakutō that came to her hand in order to block Senka Hoshis' onslaught. She immediately recognised the spiritual energy in the zanpakutō however lucky it was always in shanki therefore there was no release name. "Zangetsu" Karin said with slight relief, it was Ichigos' zanpakutō. Only one problem "How the fuck do I fight with a blade that is bigger than me?" she asked as she swung the blade in an attempt to attack Sanka Hoshi, it kept hitting off the ground and putting her off balance. After being knocked back and landing on her back Senka Hoshi jumped high to bring the entire blade down on her with massive force from above. Karin called out Getsuga Tenshō as blue-coloured blasts of spiritual power in the shape of a crescent travelled at Senka Hoshi however (currently a) she dodged in and the blades clashed causing the zanpakutō to shatter in two.

Karin picked up the next blade "Shit" she thought she didn't recognise the spiritual pressure. However she didn't have long to dwell as the two blades crashed and like Zangetsu the blade broke. Karin didn't count however she must have came across at least seventy zanpakutōs with spiritual pressures which she didn't recognise and shattered before she came across one which she did. "Thank fuck for Yoruichi" Karin thought.

_Flashback_

"_Yoruchi, what types of __zanpakutōs are there?" Karin asked_

"_There are loads but usually you can tell from the command of their shanki. You've got fire based zanpakutōs like __Yamamotos' whose command is all things of this world, turn to ashes._

_Soifongs transforms into a stinger worn on the middle finger and the command is sting all enemies to death._

_Byakuya__s' is scatter and the __blade scatters into thousands of tiny blades which can be controlled. Of course it is always wise to know the powers of your enemies' __zanpakutōs before you meet them. __Aizens__ zanpakutō is__ Kyōka Suigetsu's and the command is shatter, it is less obvious to what its ability is and Aizen used this to deceive many. The ability is complete hypnosis, it allows him to create perfect and permanent illusions. _

_Gins'__ zanpakutō is __Shinsō's and the__ blade extends at great speeds to impale opponents. The command is shoot to kill._

_Tousens' __zanpakutō is __Suzumushi and __has more than one command. The first is chime and __projects a high-pitched tone knocking those in hearing range unconscious. The second is smash his limbs which creates a ground of blades which rain on the opponent. "_

_End Flashback_

"All things of this world turn to ashes" Karin yelled out

Her sword turned into a flame which consumed the whole training ground however she didn't burn in fact she didn't even feel the heat. She swung the blade made of fire straight at Senka Hoshi , who jumped back quickly and transformed the blade into a shield however it didn't completely work and 

Karins' attack left a burn mark sore enough for her to grab her arm in pain. Noticing this Karin seized her opportunity to strike again aiming directly for her head however Senka Hoshi seen the attack coming and quickly repositioned herself shield saving her from injury. She then ran at Karin predicting where Karin would move to before she did with the sword. Karin was ready to meet the attack however Senka Hoshis' suddenly manipulating the blade to attack from the side instead of from above leaving unprepared so when the blades clashed Karin her defence was weakened and the blade made of fire smouldered into ashes and disappear and a fresh cut appeared across Karins' cheek which just added to the many other injuries she had received that day.

Karin had to then grab the nearest blade which she was unsuccessful at recognising, after several other blades had been destroyed due this reason Senka Hoshi had suddenly disappeared. It was only then that Karin noticed that the cave was almost completely dark with only a rays of light from the setting sun had filtered into the cave.

"Karin" Yoruchi said "That is it for today, get some rest. I am going to Soifongs for tonight however I will return in the morning. As you probably know already the water over there has healing properties so take a bath and rest. You need to be ready for tomorrow as you only have two days left."

"Right I'll see you tomorrow morning"

"Yeah, see ya kid"

With that Yoruchi jumped off the ledge of the cliff leading into the cave and was gone leaving Tōshirō and Karin.

--

Karin walked over to Tōshirō and holding his hand she leaned up to his ear and said in a sensual voice "I suppose I have to get a bath but I could do with a massage, there is no way you could help me?"

"Umm well I have t-to get back to the d-division" Tōshirō mumbled caught off guard. At hearing this Karin felt knocked back rejected but she didn't want to show it. Doubts ran through her mind, does he not like me anymore was I really that bad last time. Then a thought came across her mind "Maybe I just need to show him what he's missing" however what she was planning to do she was slightly embarrassed.

She walked over to the water away from Tōshirō and stripped off till she was just in her underwear and let down her hair so it fell down her back and ran her hand through it. She looked over her shoulder to see Tōshirō was standing there with unconcealed desire.

"Shit" he thought, she was hot and her wanted her, really really wanted her which wasn't helped by the way she ran her hand through her hair and looked over her shoulder. He didn't even know why he said he said he needed to get back to the division. Maybe because he did and the paperwork was piling up however if it was between paper work and Karin, well the choice was obvious.

She walked over to him with her hair covering her shoulders and her push up bra, well pushing everything up. His arms automatically went round her waist as she leaned against him and his whole body stiffened. She wrapped her arms round his shoulders and said in the same voice as before "I thought you had to get back to your division." He felt himself harden.

"I could stay for a while" he said more confident than last time as he traced one of his fingers across the various cuts Karin had earned from her zanpakutō. Karin smirked as she walked back to the water and took off her underwear and stepped into the warm water. She totally submerged herself so that her hair was wet. By the time she came up out of the water she noticed Tōshirō was in the water sitting at the other side.

She walked over and sat down so that she was sitting in between his legs and her back was leaning against his chest. Tōshirō began to message her shoulders, his touch sent tingles through her whole body. She ran one of her hands through his hair down his cheek and neck. Tōshirō moved his hands hesitantly down to message her breasts at which she let out a moan and in response ground in to him to which he let out the same response. After a while he moved down further to massage the lower areas. So she turned round to meet him and kissed him deeply. He put a strong arm round her waist to hold her tight against him while his free hand traced her curves. He noticed that her injuries were completely healed.

His hand moved down her back and began to message her from behind. Suddenly he slipped two fingers in to her followed by a third and pumped in an out of her causing her to moan in to the dip of his neck and leave scratches on the upper area of his back. As he felt her tighten he removed his fingers and switched their positions so her back was against the wall. She wrapped her legs around him as he entered her and pushed in an out. Neither of them wanted it to stop but soon the both came as Karin moaned Tōshirōs name. They got dressed and Tōshirō had to leave but only after he pulled her close kissed her with passion and whispered in her ear "I have to go but I love you and I'll be back tomorrow".

--

Karin woke up early and watched the sunrise as she thought about how she was going to beat Senka Hoshi, "I'm picking up too many zanpakutōs which I don't recognise, I need to concentrate on sensing their spiritual pressures. I could do that even before I became a shinigami. I could sense hollows miles away and could tell where they were so now that I'm a shimigami and have honed my skills I should be able to sense easily the spiritual pressures of the zanpakutōs and simply reach for the ones I know."

Her train of thought was interrupted as two figures blocked the light from the now fully risen sun. Karin looked up into to the faces of Yoruchi and Tōshirō.

"You ready kid?"

"Yep" Karin answered and they walked into the training ground to begin again

Karin flash stepped around the cave looking for a zanpakutō with a familiar spiritual pressure, she only pulled up a zanpakutō she didn't recognise every so often to block an attack from Senka Hoshi who had today decided to take the form of a guy.

"Seriously Karin your never gonna beat me if you keep running away and only using a zanpakutō to block my attacks."

"Thanks for the advice but I decided today I was going to use my half a brain cell."

It was then that Karin finally sensed a familiar spiritual pressure from a zanpakutō she grabbed it and called out "Howl, Zabimaru" the sword Karin held turned in to a segmented blade exactly like Renjis'. Karin suddenly turned around so that she was facing Senka Hoishi yet still moving backwards. Karin swung the blade directly at his shoulder blade where it caught as the blade sliced into the skin. Karin pulled it out so that the jagged edges of the blade ripped through the muscle leaving a deep bleeding wound. As Karin swung her body around to gain more force for her next attack Senka Hoshi appeared beside her. "Shit" Karin thought as he had moved at lightning speed catching Karin off guard as his now dagger shaped zanpakutō sliced right through her right leaving a hole in the centre.

Karin screamed due to the intense pain that rocketed through her body and dropped the zanpakutō which he smashed by ramming the sword through it. Karin grabbed the nearest knife and attempted to cut a piece of fabric with her the zanpakutō in her left hand from the bottom of her robes and tie it around her hand however Senka Hoshis' onslaught continued not giving her a moment to breathe.

"You have learnt how to fight using your brain rather than just fighting, but now fun is over you have to become as skilled as you are in using your own shanki but only using another and you have to lead with your left hand instead of your right if you want to beat me. To be able to fully achieve bankai you have to be able to completely adapt to the situation without a moments' notice. You will not win until you can do that." He said seriously

"And you couldn't have told me this at the start?" Karin asked in an annoyed tone of voice

"Nope" Senka Hoshi said turning back into her usual sarcastic self with a completely innocent goofy grin which completely contradicted the situation they were in.

Karin and Senka Hoshi had been fighting for several hours and both had sustained many more injuries which were poorly bandaged as they didn't stop to do it properly. Karin had fought with several other zanpakutō including, Rangikus' Ash Cat, Soifongs' Hornet and Kisukes' Crimson Princess. As the day progressed Karin became increasingly skilled in using the different zanpakutō however not good enough. As Benihime (Crimson Princess) shattered Karin was forced to go in search of another zanpakutō. Out of the corner of her eye one caught her attention, she grabbed it and a cold chill was sent through her whole body. Even though she had never met the owner she knew immediately who it belonged to.

Senka Hoshi charged directly at the now stationary Karin thrusting the blade deep into her back causing her to collapse to the ground which trail of blood which ran down forming a puddle of blood around her but suddenly Senka Hoshi felt a throbbing paid a deep wound appeared across her side forcing her to cough up blood and clench her side. As he flash stepped in erratically suddenly changing direction at a moment's notice.

"So you have discovered Kyōka Suigetsu (A/N: Aizens' zanpakutō), interesting, you seem to have picked up the use quicky" suddenly it Senka Hoshi grabbed Karins arm thrusting his zanpakutō through her shoulder blade causing her to like Renjis' drop it giving Senka Hoshi the opportunity to smash it. "But you forgot to hide your spiritual pressure so I can sense where you are"

After Senka Hoshi ripped the blade from Karin shoulder she collapsed to the ground. On her descent she noticed that manifestation of Senka Hoshi disappeared in her place was the tenshintai. She turned her face to look out the entrance she could see all the colours of the sunset reflected on the ground then her eyes grew too heavy to stay open, all went black and then nothing.

--

**I tried to make how she achieves her bankai slightly different to Ichigo and also that it relates to what her bankai is so see if you can figure it out and please review.**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

When Karin finally opened her eyes it was still dark and it was hard to see. Her body was stiff and she could feel the multiple bandages wrapped tightly around her various wounds. She turned her head to see that Tōshirō wasn't lying far from her. He must have decided to stay. She got up and walked over to the pool of water discarded her clothes but left the bandages on and stepped into the water. She could feel her muscles heal as she gained more mobility over them. She laid her head against the side relaxed and closed her eyes.

As Tōshirō opened his eyes he was immediately alert, something was wrong. He looked over to see the place where Karin had been laid was empty and blankets which had previously covered her were discarded. He sat up and looked around to see Karins' form in the water slowly slipping under.

Karin felt herself being pulled out of the water as she opened her sleepy eyes to see a pair of emerald eyes staring back at her and felt warm hands brushing her now soaked hair out of her face. All she could say was "I'm so cold" her injuries had put great strain on her body, she was weak however she couldn't afford to be as once the sun rose, she would only have till sunset to defeat her zanpakutō. As her heavy eyes closed she felt her body being lifted as a soft towel was wound round her body and she was pulled tight against a warm body.

--

Karin was woken by the rising sun as the light streamed up through the entrance. Her hair was slightly wet but she didn't know why. Only then did Karin feel the weight of Tōshirō arm around her waist. Karin turned around and poked him on the forehead. "Tōshirō wake up, its morning." As he began to stir Karin got up, she found that she was already in her shinigami uniform and all her wounds were healed but the last thing she remembered was getting stabbed on the shoulder blade. She was about to question Tōshirō when on queue Yoruchi appeared.

"So you have recovered?"

"Yep, appears so."

"So, are you ready?"

"I've got to be, this is my last chance." Karin replied as she stabbed the tenshintai. It was only then that Tōshirō was fully awake and without saying a word he took his place beside Yoruchi. Immediately as Senka Hoshi appeared the battle began and the various zanpakutō appeared from the ground. Within the first few minutes she had already sensed a familiar spiritual pressure from a zanpakutō.

As she ran to grab the wanted sword Senka Hoshi who had reverted to a woman blocked her path and stabbed out with the zanpakutō aiming for her gut. Karin front somersaulted in the air landing beside the sword. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki" Karin yelled out. The sword was completely white with a white ribbon from the pommel which belonged to Rukia Kuchiki.

Karin then called out "next dance, white ripple" at which Senka Hoshi easily dodged by shunpooing out of the way. Karin then sprinted at her, forcing the sword in the direction of her gullet however at the last second she changed her attack by switching hands and caught her across the side. However suddenly and for the first time Senka Hoshi used the second ability. "Black hole" she yelled out and Karin felt her spiritual energy being drained away. Karin found herself severely weakened so much that the zanpakutō reverted back to its sealed state and it was easily kicked out of her hand. She felt the weight of the other occupants spiritual pressure on her especially Senka Hoshis' they were drowning her and she found it hard to breathe. It reminded her of when her spirit chain was first severed. Her movements became slow. Senka Hoshi turned her attention to piercing the sword giving Karin enough time to get shunpo away with whatever spiritual energy she had left.

Karin spent the next two hours dodging attacks but preserving her strength as her spiritual energy slowly returned as she didn't exert herself. However suddenly she recognised a familiar spiritual energy emanating from a nearby zanpakutō. Karin grabbed it and yelled out

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru"

Suddenly her blade transformed in to an ice dragon and she was surrounded in blue energy. Karin knew what to do; she had seen this zanpakutō skilfully wielded many times. Karin looked up directly in to the eyes of Senka Hoshi with determination. She swung the ice dragon directly at her with precision at Senka Hoshi aiming to freeze her to the very core. She narrowly dodged the attack but to do so she had to slam her body into the sharp rocks which drew copious amounts of blood however within seconds Karin had spun her body around changing hands and swung the zanpakutō with force again at her hitting her directly and landed silently on the ground as the zanpakutō changed back into its sealed state.

The ice shattered and Senka Hoshi feel on to her knees in front of Karin, smirked slightly looked directly at Karin and said "You win, I guess I should tell you what your bankai ability is unless you haven't figured it out yet, which highly likely given the fact that it is you. I can transform into different shanki forms and use their abilities" then she disappeared leaving the tenshintai lying on the ground.

--

Karin stood there as with the cheesiest grin she had ever had in her life. "Well done kid, how do you feel?"

"Good" then after a wide yawn she said "Tired."

Tōshirō then walked over to Karin and his arms surrounded her and she leaned into him. "Thank you", Karin said sleepily.

"For what?"

"Training me, so I could see how to use your zanpakutō"

"No probs' but I didn't know that you were paying attention to how I used my zanpakutō"

"Course I was, you're a master at using your zanpakutō therefore so I can become as good I have to study how you do it and apply it to mine"

"So what you are saying is that you look up to me"

"Course a do shorty, but you ever repeat it or tell anyone that I admitted to it then I will deny it and you will have a new definition of pain."

Somewhere during their conversation Yoruchi had left silently.

"You see you appear as a sweet, innocent girl then you come out with something like that"

"I'm none of those things"

"So you're not a girl?"

"Nope, a tomboy with impeccable fashion sense and of course is mad about football." As an afterthought she added "and I like technology"

"Technology?"

"Yep I have no idea where I would be without my ipod and my laptop even the mobile to sense hollows is technology. I couldn't live without them, makes everything so much easier."

Suddenly Tōshirō noticed she was sleeping. "She must be exhausted" he thought. He lifted her and carried her to the mattress where he left her to sleep. He had tones of paperwork he was behind on.

--

"Kaarrin, give daddy a hug" this is what Karin woke up to as she saw her father run at her with arms stretched wide open only to me met by the traditional kick in the face.

"Could you have at least waited till I was awake" Karin asked rhetorically as she rubbed her eyes she saw that her father was not the only one in the training grounds. At the entrance stood Ichigo, Yoruchi, Tōshirō as well as a shinigami she had never met before.

"Hi, so who are you?"

"I'm Shinji Hirako pleased to meet ya"

"Oh right, one of the vizard. I'm Karin"

"I know"

"Oh right" said Karin confused mainly due to the fact she had just woken up and her brain wasn't functioning properly.

"So is there any particular reason why you'se are here, or where you just passing by and decided to drop in?"

Suddenly Ishiin appeared beside her, more serious than she had ever seen him."You will be returning to Karakura town to train however there are a few things which have to be taken care of before you do but first go get changed and packed for leaving."

--

As soon as Karin had returned she noticed that they were standing in a circle talking as she approached they stopped talking and looked at her.

"So are we ready to go?"

"Not yet Karin" Ichigo replied

"Karin, would you be a dear and swallow this."

"What is it" Karin said as she examined the pill Urahara had just placed in her hand

"Relax, it's only my new invention"

"Yeah, that doesn't exactly sound promising. What is it supposed to do?"

"Take it and we will find out"

"Oh great, I'm a test subject "

"Go ahead Karin, it'll be alright" Ichigo urged

Karin was still unsure but popped it in her mouth anyway suddenly she blacked out and was within her minds' eye. Nirak was before her however white material came out of nowhere and began surrounding her, binding her tight.

"What the fuck is happening" Karin said

In a calm voice Nirak replied "It is quite simple really, he has created a pill which temporarily binds me preventing me from taking over your body and you accessing my powers. That is also why there are so many of them present, they think that I am going to fight back"

"Why aren't you?"

"There is no point, I could fight but it would be useless. As soon as I gained control I would lose it again. Anyway for the moment I am content to wait on the side lines, however like Senka Hoshi I have a certain part or your personality and like you were I won't be content to stay on the side lines forever. It is likely the next time we meet we will be fighting for control."

"It's too bad we couldn't get along, but that's just not the way it works I guess. I'm on the side of soul society and I guess you are on the side of Aizen"

Suddenly dropping her calm tone she furiously shouted "No, I will never be on the side of Aizen, when he tried to kill you he tried to kill me too and when I win I will do everything I can to kill him. 

We will not battling over the war and control of soul society but the control over this body. That is all."

Suddenly Karin opened her eyes and was staring into the face of Urahara "Did it work?"

"Yes"

"Strange she didn't fight"

"She saw no point" For the first time in her life Karin saw his face show genuine confusion however this was quickly hidden with the opening of his fan and in his usual cheerful voice he said "Well, time to go young Kurosaki."

--

**Yeah the first bit I wasn't sure about adding in but I wanted to show that they are really close and all and he is beginning to be able to sense when she is in danger or not. I'm not sure is I'll make it important or not in the rest of the story but I added it in anyway.**

**Also the thing with the ipod and technology isn't overly important I just wanted to reinforce that she has grown up and therefore developed other interests.**

**So please review!**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

"So Karin, Yoruchi never informed me what either your shanki or bankai so please do tell what is it called". Karin now lived with Urahara however she couldn't really go outside much as she was supposed to be dead especially when the annarcar attacked which really pissed her off.

"My zanpakutō is called Senka Hoshi"

"Shadow star, how interesting, let's see your skill in wielding your zanpakutō before you left for soul society, your skills were not to be desired however then again you didn't even have your zanpakutō then"

Karin yelled out "The stars shine but the shadows encroach all around, Senka Hoshi" as she released her zanpakutō into her shanki"

"Lets test you then, awaken Benihime"

--

Karin formed a routine in the morning she trained with Yoruchi to perfect shunkō and hand to hand combat then she trained with Tessi to continue her development of kidō. In the afternoon she then worked on her zanpakutō skills with a variety of shinigami rather than just one as Urahara had said "Due to the nature of your zanpakutō it is more beneficial". However she had her afternoons free which she spent either playing football in the training ground or . . .

_Flashback _

"_What's that young Kurosaki?"__ Urahara enquired. She hated it when he suddenly appeared behind her._

_So gritting her teeth in an attempt to hide her annoyance knowing that he would only find it amusing said "It's a spirit phone and a __normal mobile phone, I am trying to find a way to integrate the two technologies so that it a have a phone with the capabilities of both. Cause I'm sick of having to carry round two phones"_

"_You know I could help, I set up the research and development department in soul society and was the __Chief of Research and Development__"_

"_Yeah, I know but I want to do it on my own, that way it's__ my work"_

"_Ok" Urahara said as he smirked thinking back to his newly finished project, a mobile phone which was modern looking and had the capabilities of both the spirit phones and a normal mobile phone. But of course he wouldn't tell her that, he could only but imagine the amusement he would have upon her discovery that he had already done it._

_End flashback _

It had been two months since she had returned from her sixth month stay in soul society and she had still been barely past the front door.

"So Karin, are you ready to go to the vizards?" Urahara enquired

"Of course I am, but even if I said no would it matter"

"Probably not, by the end of today the bindings will loosen and you will have to control your inner hollow by yourself"

"So anyway how is this going to work, do I go to them or do they come to me"

"You have to find them but don't worry it will be easy enough, your brother was able to find them and at that time he had substantially less control over his spiritual pressure than you do, even now you have more control than him"

"Ok so when do I leave?"

"Now"

"Like right now, this second, on my own?"

"Yep only vizards and certain people are allowed to know where they reside" he said with his usual grin as he kicked her out the door "Bye"

"Ok, bye then" said a Karin confused standing out of the shop "You would have thought I would have got more notice" only then did it register that Urahara had just kicked her up the ass. "That bastard just kicked my ass" she thought as a vein popped on her head.

--

Karin followed the unique spiritual pressure of the vizards she was led to an abandoned storage yard with rundown buildings. As she approached a large wooden barn with the door open she entered only to have the rusty door close behind her sealing off any natural light that had previously entered.

She raised her head to see who spoke to her "Good job fining this place, Karin. I'm impressed you found this place as we didn't pump out that much reiastu, far less than we did for your brother. You have far more control than your brother did." It was the vizard she had met previously Shinji Hirako.

"I've had a lot more time to practice and learn than he has"

"So you have, but that doesn't matter what does is that you are here to learn how to suppress your hollow"

Suddenly the several figures that had previously been looking down on her appeared in front of her. This is Love, Mashiro, Rose, Hachi, Lisa, Kensei and I am as you already knowShinji. Before he could say anything else he was slapped across the face with a sandal.

"What was that for, Hiyori?" Shinj asked clutching his face

"You didn't introduce me!!" she shouted

All Karin could do was snicker until Hiyori turned her attention on to her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing" Karin replied trying to stop laughing. Suddenly she felt a sandal hit her across the face. As Karin saw it again flying in her direction she grabbed Hiyori wrist as a vein popped in her head "If you hit me one more time with that I'll beat you across the head with it." said an obviously pissed of Karin

"I should smack you upside your head" Hiyori shouted as she threw the sandal at Karins' head.

Shinji joined the rest of the onlookers watching the two girls battle it out as dust was thrown up into the air.

"It looks as if we found some with just as bad a temper and as violent as Hiyori" Shinji remarked

Suddenly the two girls obviously pissed forgot about their fight as they rounded on Shinji. He felt two feet smack into his face as he went flying backwards and in unison the girls shouted "I don't have a bad temper and I'm not violent."

After a moment of silence Karin said "The masked army? How can you be an army if there are only eight of you"

Hiyori then said "There are nine of us at the moment, you are forgetting your brother. There will soon be ten of us when you join then eleven when your sister does."

"I don't know about Ichigo or Yuzu but I never agreed to join anything, I don't want to be part of your club"

"Lemme tell you exactly what I told your brother, the thing is that it is not your choice whether to become one of us or not. It's ours. If ya are strong enough we'll let ya join and even teach you how to suppress your hollow. But if ya are weak then forget it. We'll leave ya to become a hollow and die a pathetic death."

Karin smirked as Hiyori finished her speech. "Have that whole speech practiced off by heart do ya, but you see there are a few problems. You seem to confuse me with my brother unlike him I had time to decide whether to become a shinigami or not or wait till I die. In fact I spent three years deciding, mainly because I wasn't allowed to become one until I was 13 however in those three years I studied everything. Including what would happen if I became a shinigami by the same method as my brother. I knew that I would gain an inner hollow and because of this I studied the process of how to suppress it. I have to battle my inner hollow in my mind and during that process I will completely transform into a hollow. During that time I require someone to fight me to ensure I don't break loose and cause trouble which I'm sure if I ask my dad, Tōshirō and Ichigo they wouldn't mind doing especially as I don't think they really want me to turn into a hollow and as you so put it die a pathetic death. Tessi, Urahara and Yoruchi might even help me. In fact the only reason I am here is because everyone thought it was better to do it with the experts. But I suppose if you are putting conditions on helping me then I will just have to do it another way. Of course if worse come 

to worse I will just have to take one of Uraharas' pills every couple of months until I am strong enough."

Karin turned around and began to walk towards the door until she heard Hiyori speak. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the girl who seemed shocked at what had just happened. "You knew we were going to make you join"

"Of course"

"You do know once soul society find out what you are they will not accept you"

"Who said I am with soul society, I am on my own side at least until I die however it just happens that our current objectives are all the same."

"Why should we help you?"

"Because right now we both want the same thing, to destroy Aizen and you need all help you can get especially as Aizen has new annarcars. Remember if you do it will mean that I am indebted to you at least until I can pay it back."

Shinji looked at the other vizards and they all nodded at him "Fine we will help you suppress your hollow."

Shinji jumped down in front of her "At least you know more than your brother did when he came to us he didn't even know how long it would take for the Hōgyoku to awaken. Lets' start shall we?"

"I guess you aren't planning to assess my power, that's what Urahara has been doing for the last two months. My guess is that you already know about my power."

"You pick up quicker than your brother as well"

"Not really, I just learn from his experience"

Suddenly Shinji put his hand in front of her face and she saw a blue light then blacked out.

--

As Karin opened her eyes she looked up to the familiar image. The giant moon was above her as the stars twinkled. In front of her sat Nirak whose' bounds where becoming undone as she stood up. Nirak looked and Karin and said "It's been a while"

"Two months"

"It's time, we both knew this day would come. Now we just have to see who deserves to be in control. However neither of us want to take a back seat."

"It's not in our natures"

"True, but lets' get started, the sooner the better" Suddenly the landscape changed to a football pitch but not just any, the one in Karakura town.

Suddenly Nirak drew Senka Hoshi only it was different. The handle was white with black thread which formed the shape of the stars and moons. The hilt was black instead of silver, the normal black shadow was like white mist and the usual shining particles were black.

"Remember this time it isn't training so I won't go easy on ya and you won't have someone telling you what to do. Thought I'd mention that just encase you forgot."

"No matter what you or Senka Hoshi may believe, I do have more than half a brain cell" Karin stated as their swords clashed together.

--

**I thought I would expand her interests a bit more into technology because I she's grown up and therefore interests not just limited to football, listening to music and being a shinigami why not add another. I thought ****Hiyori and Karin are a bit similar however Karin has more control over her temper and obviously before going to the vizards her brother would have told her about his first time going to meet them all as blood is usually thinker than water.**

**Also unlike Ichigos inner hollow who comes across as evil I didn't want Karins' to be like that. I wanted her to be abit like Nel. They would have probably been friends if they weren't both fighting for control. **

**I used the football pitch because that is where a lot of things happen. She wins football games there it's where she first saw ****Tōshirō**** as a shinigami and that overall set her on the path and it's the place in her mind where she beat the poison. It is an area of a lot of key events in her kife and therefore means a lot. **

**I may not update for a while as I have quite a few things to do in the next few weeks including my drivers theory test and my as level results then school but once I get more time I will update again so don't worry.**

**So review and tell me what you think :) **


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen **

As their swords clashed the vibrations passed through their bodies forcing them back with great force sending dust into the air which was slightly blinding and caused her eyes to water. Those few moments of lost concentration meant she didn't see Niraks' attack until the last moment. The blade left a deep cut across her shoulder blade making it painful to use her right hand.

"Shit" she thought "She really wanted to call Senka Hoshi to help her, tell her what to do but she knew that wasn't going to happen cause' she knew from her brother that Nirak was Senka Hoshi.

"I told you I'm not going easy on you"

Karin switched her hands, if she couldn't use her right hand she'd just have to use her left. Blood stained her clothes as a steady stream of blood trickled from the wound and soaked her clothes. Karin by now had learnt not to concentrate on the pain but push past it.

"Ya know I hadn't realised that. You would have thought the fact that we're both fighting for control or even the massive gash on my shoulder would have given me a clue" Karin stated reverting to her usual sarcasm.

"Come on, lets' stop playing around, we might as well get serious"

"Fair enough."

"Bankai" they both yelled out

Karin immediately jumped back calling out "Clotho Lachesis Atropos, angel of life and death, fly" and her own blade turned into that of her sisters. There were now two butterfly swords one was silver with a black hilt and handle while the other was pure black with a silver hilt and handle.

Karin jumped behind her onto the goal post in order to dodge an attack from Nirak while in mid air Karin drew the silver blade across her own shoulder blade causing the bleeding to stop, eventually she no longer felt the extreme pain however it was now a dull thud. It was healed enough for her to use her right and again.

Nirak leapt at Karin with the sword of Kenpachi poised to impale her. The sword clashed with the two blades Karin held crossed. Losing her balance Karin fell backwards off the post however landing on the feet and clashed the two blades together to form into a dao. Kenpachis' and Yuzus' swords clashed together in quick succession. However neither landed a hit on the other.

Nirak swung the blade aiming to slit Karins' throat which she only narrowly dodged by flinging her entire body backwards and hitting the ground. Nirak flew at her from above to bring the blade down to lacerate her chest and puncture her lungs but Karin rolled out of the way in time.

Karin was becoming exhausted and she guessed that Nirak was due to the fact that as breathing was also heavy and laboured.

Karin attempted to plunge her blade in to Niraks' abdomen however her attack was halted as she felt a pain shoot through her hip and blood flow down her leg thigh as a hornets crest appeared on her side.

"Shit" thought if she got hit one more time she would lose, she would die.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mean while . . .

The iron pillars were already destroyed and turned to dust. It has been forty minutes and four of the Vizards Mashiro, Kensei, Rose and Lisa have already spent their time battling Karin. Now her body had reached complete hollowification.

"Hey Hachi" Hiyori yelled "Open up, times up"

As Hiyori walked through the door in the barrier that had appeared "Hey Mashiro, tag out its' my turn"

"Ohhhh kay" she said as she jumped back towards the exit and walked out as Hiyori took her place.

"So you're a big stupid bird, figures"

Karin had transformed into a pure white bird with claws feathers and wings the only colours were the yellow piercing eyes which were similar to the other vizards and the ebony black feathers the same colour as her hair which covered her head. She let out a high pitched screeching noise.

"Will you fuck sake stop screeching, it's recking my ears you stupid dumb bird"

Karins' hollow form flew up into the air sending the particles of dust and dirt into the air.

"Come down and fight me" Hiyori yelled as Karin suddenly dived straight for her from above.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They ran at each other again both of them had instinct, the instinct to survive, the instinct to win and neither was prepared to lose. Karin called the zanpakutō she knew she was most skilled at besides her own as she threw the full force of herself and her blade at Nirak as it transformed into the ice dragon. The strongest of the ice based zanpakutō. However this was met by Ryūjin Jakka the strongest of the fire based zanpakutō turning the ice to water and the football pitch to mud. It also sent the wielders hurtling back several meters crashing into the nearby trees both of which toppled over.

Before Karin had time to react she felt a surge of blue spiritual power hit her in the form of an attack from Zangetsu. It sent her crashing further into the dirt as the rocks which lay under the turf cut her back open, letting blood ooze out of the open tissue.

"Shit, how can she wield it, it is bigger than her" was all Karin could think.

As soon as Karin stood up Nirak was relentless in her attacks all she could do was hold her ground as the vibrations were sent through Karins' whole body. Karin called forth Benhime using the blood mist shield to protect her body. When Nirak charged to attack Karin sent an energy blast which hit Nirak directly sending her flying across the field as she felt the full force.

They were both out of energy and injured but Karin was in a worse condition. This last attack would be the deciding factor. Karin was too weak to use Bankai and Nirak chose to use Soi Fongs, Suzumebachi. Nirak sprinted towards Karin as Karin summer salted over her and yelled "Number 9, strike" as Nirak was temporarily paralyzed long enough to be impaled on Senka Hoshis' blade.

As Nirak began to transform back into one of the multiple forms of Senka Hoshi their eyes locked.

"Until next time"

"Until next time" Karin replied

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So are you ready to begin training Karin" Shinji asked

"Why do people keep asking that when the answer really doesn't matter"

Karin suddenly felt a foot collide with her face which sent her flying in to a nearby hill of rocks.

"What did you do that for dickhead, are you trying to kill me" Karin yelled at Hiyori

"We're training moron so shut the fuck up, you're talking too much"

"Who are you calling a moron" Karin said as she as hit up the face with a sandal, "I told you never to hit me up the face with you sandal

"Why what are you going to do about it"

Karin suddenly drew her sword and stood up. A hollow mask appeared on her face unlike the other vizards her mask didn't cover her whole face. The top of the beak appeared over her nose and the mask surrounded her eyes which shown yellow. Black feathers jutted out from the area slightly above her eyes and shaped around to cover the top of her head.

Karin charged at Hiyori, zanpakutō drawn. This is how she began her training.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of vizards sat at the side observing the scene as Hiyoris' foot connected with Karins' face for the thirtieth tome that day and her entire body crashed into a nearby pile of rocks and her mask shattered.

"How long was that?" Shinji asked

"Two second" Kensei replied

"Wow, that's worse than her brother"

"You're too slow" Hiyori yelled at Karin as her foot again connected with Karins face.

"I'm working on it dick head, have a bit of patients" Karin yelled back

Shinji leaned back against a rock and said "I think they're friends"

"Why would you say that?" asked a confused Mashiro

"Cause that's the way Hiyori acts towards people she likes, if she didn't like her she wouldn't train her, in fact she would just make it harder for her to learn. And from what I've heard Karin doesn't mind getting the shit kicked out of her in training as long as it's helping her learn and she's not being treated like a kid which Hiyori isn't, at least not yet"

"Oohhhhh"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Karin had spent four months with the vizards and up till three weeks ago she had no improvement.

"I don't get it you were really bad in fact even though it's not possible I would say you got worse" Shinji stated at which all the other vizards nodded in agreement.

Karin let out an exasperated sigh "Why doesn't anyone listen to me, I do shit for ages then it suddenly clicks and then I get a lot better usually quickly that's why I couldn't get any better than four seconds for about two months then I suddenly went up to about 30 minutes within three weeks."

"I still don't buy it, it doesn't work that way" Hiyori said

"What do you mean you don't buy it, you saw it happen, you trained me?"

"Nah"

"What do you mean nah?" Karin replied getting frustrated

"I mean what I say, got a problem with that" she yelled

An argument was only prevented as Ichigo walked down the stairs and everyone turned to look at him.

"Hi Ichigo, what are you doing here"

"Hi Karin, guys. Karin I've been sent from soul society you have to go back there now."

"Why?"

"I don't know but they wouldn't tell me, I'm supposed to take up as soon as possible"

"Ok?" Karin said confused

Karin turned to look at the vizards but Shinji was the only one to speak, "Go ahead pack your stuff and remember to call in to train whenever you are in Karakura Town."

Once Karin had packed her stuff she returned to say her goodbyes, "I'll see ya next time". The only one not to say anything was Hiyori but Karin was pretty sure she heard her say behind all the noise "Stupid stinkin' shinigami". Only as Karin was about to walk through the barrier did she hear her voice yell "Remember you owe us."

All Karin yelled back as she smirked was "I know" then she was gone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**I'm so sorry it's been ages, I have list of long excuses which I don't want to bore you with but i will now try to update asap but I'm back at school and have tonnes of coursework. For any of those interested I passed my driving theory test.**

**I'll explain Yuzu's ****zanpakutō. It is called ****Clotho Lachesis Atropos**

**Clotho Lachesis and Atropos are the greek goddesses of the fate**

**Clotho is the spinner**

**Lachesis is the determiner of length**

**Atropos is the cutter of thread**

**I chose those as a name because as a healer she will probably when people are pregnant in soul society be like a doctor. She can extend the length of life or cut it shorter with her ****zanpakutō.**** Her ****zanpakutō is a dual zanpakutō ****in the first form of two butterfly fly swords which are like small dao's so she can fight in close combat however once combined together they form one larger dao. Her zanpakutō has two abilities, the first is that silver blade it can heal in a similar way to ****Hanatarōs'**** the second is that it has a memory of all the injuries it has healed and can inflict those on others. It can also be used as a normal blade when it is the longer dao sword form.**

**I chose "angel of life and death, fly" as its command as it can do both heal and also cause injury. **

**So tell me what you think and review**


	16. Chapter Fifthteen

**Contains some manga spoilers but some stuff I made up myself!**

**Chapter Fifteen **

Karin walked out of the gate and into the surroundings that have become familiar to her, soul society.

"Ok, someone was supposed to meet me here" she said to herself, she waited five minutes before saying "Fuck this I'll just go see Tōshirō" and she walked off towards the tenth squad. It had been six months since she had seen him. The two which she spent training at Uraharas' and the four she spent training with the vizards. She had fully immersed herself with the training but even then she missed him, more than she through she would but that was the life they were living and they couldn't change it at the moment, too much was at stake. A smile appeared on Karins' face as she realised that they were finally going to meet again.

--

Rangiku looked at her young captain with worry. After Karin had been poisoned he went to visit her everyday however once she died he was never in the office, he was always going for long walks. She attempted to follow him however it was obvious he didn't want her to as he shunpoed away so that she lost track and completely hid his spiritual pressure. This went on for three months and he always looked tired and he began to fall behind on paper work even though she began to do her share. One night she was sure he didn't even go home. Then all of a sudden he seemed back to normal he stayed in the office completed his paper work on time. The only difference he seemed depressed and as the time went on he became more depressed. He also seemed to let his mind wander as if he was thinking about something or someone but as soon as she said anything he pretended he didn't know what she was talking about. Suddenly he looked up to see her staring at him and said with his characteristic scowl

"Aren't you supposed to be doing paper work?"

"But Tachio, I've done so much can I not take a break"

"No"

Suddenly a hell butterfly flew in and her young Tachio put out his finger where it landed. "Matsumoto I have to go to a meeting I want all the paper work done by the time I get back."

Rangiku let out an audible sigh as he walked out the door and proceeded to slack off. As she heard the door open again she looked up to see who had entered as it was too soon for her tachio to have returned and subordinates were supposed to knock.

Suddenly Rangiku could have sworn she had seen a ghost. All Rangiku could stutter out was "Y-you're supposed to be dead?"

Karin wasn't quite sure what to say so much had happened she scratched the back of her head and said "Yeah, it's a long story" Suddenly she was being suffocated as Rangiku pulled her in a monstrous hug and held her there in a vice grip.

--

As Tōshirō left the first division, even though he didn't show it he was excited happy. Karin was coming back to soul society, she should be arriving in ten minutes and he was supposed to meet her there. That gave him enough time to check on his lieutenant then go to the gate. It had been six months since the last time he had seen her and there hadn't been a day since his mind didn't wander back to her.

As Tōshirō entered his office he saw Rangiku crying and hugging someone who was obviously being suffocated. But it wasn't someone, it was Karin.

"Rangiku, you're going to kill her"

Seeing her tachio she let go of Karin and sobbed out "S-she's a-alive"

All Tōshirō could say was "You arrived early"

"Yeah"

Rangiku became flustered and her tachios' lack of reaction at the fact that his supposedly dead girlfriend had just resurrected. She only calmed down once she was filled in on the events of the past months.

"So every time you went for walks you were away seeing Karin"

"Yes"

Suddenly Rangiku had grabbed Karin in a bear hug and said, "I'm so glad that you are alive"

"So am I but sorry we had to hide it from you. Do you understand that we had to?"

"Yea, no probs" said Rangiku returning to her usually bubbly self she said "I'm going to go and tell everyone and leave you two love birds alone" as she walked out of the office. Tōshirō suddenly realised that there was a massive pile of unfinished paperwork which she obviously wasn't going to do and yelled "MATSUMOTO". But it was too late she was already gone.

"Look at the bright side" Karin said "She has given you some alone time with your girlfriend who you haven't seen in six …" Karin wasn't able to finish her sentence as Tōshirōs' lips crashed into hers at first the kiss was unsure and awkward however they soon fell into the familiar sync and everything felt exactly as it was before. It was as if they had never been apart.

--

Karin and Tōshirō sat on the edge of Sōkyoku hill looking out onto the sunset.

"Tōshirō do you know why I had to come back to soul society, when I got the message it sounded pretty urgent but I've spent the whole day just hanging around with you. I would have thought they would have came and got me by now."

"Not sure, all I know is that tomorrow morning I have to take you to a meeting with Yamamoto"

"Bout what?"

"No idea, but you'll find out tomorrow" After a moment of silence Tōshirō continued "Karin"

"Yeah"

"How about you stay here in soul society, I don't want to go another six months without you" he turned away from looking at the sunset but rather looked at her so their eyes met. "Join one of the squads, like squad two won't turn you away. Actually Soifong would probably make you her lieutenant, she's been looking to get rid of Ōmaeda for ages and if they won't then there will be a place for you in squad ten."

"Ok" Karin said after a moment with a smile, "Yeah I'll stay in soul society."

"Really"

"Yes" Tōshirō flashed one of his rarely seen smiles and pulled her into an embrace and kissed her.

Little did they know in one of the trees in the forest below sat Rangiku, Momo and Yumichika.

"Young love, so beautiful" Yumichika said whist fully

"Hurry up Rangiku, I need the binoculars to see as well" Momo said but soon started to giggle as she looked at the scene above "Imagine if Shiro-chan knew we were watching"

"Yeah" Rangiku replied "We'd all be frozen"

"How unbeautiful, it would mess up my beautiful complexion."

--

"Just go in the sōtaichō will be expecting you" Karin stood outside the massive double doors which lead into the meeting room.

"Right"

"And I'll meet you at the office afterwards"

"Yeah, I'll see you later, bye" then Tōshirō walked away as Karin proceeded to walk forward into the meeting room.

As she entered the room the doors slammed shut behind her making her jump. As she turned around there were two people standing at the top of the room general Yamamoto and another woman who appeared to be in her mid forty's in human years.

"Karin Kurosaki" Yamamoto said "This is Hakifume, she is here to talk to you about confidential matters however since I am not privy to the information which will be discussed therefore I must leave" and with that he walked out the doors without any further explanation leaving Karin alone with the women.

As the doors closed behind Yamamoto the womens' hand started to glow, she began chanting a kido spell, a ball of light formed and gradually grew bigger. Alarmed Karin took a few steps back however suddenly it engulfed the whole room forming a barrier similar to Orihime's. Once she was done the women smiled warmly and said

"Sorry about that, it isn't safe to talk even here without the adequate protection, my name is Kirio Hikifune and I have a proposition to discuss with you"

"With me" Karin stuttered out stupidly she was taken aback by the events in the last few minutes. She could tell that even through this woman hid her spiritual pressure she was powerful maybe even more so than Yamamoto.

"Yes" Hikifune said while smiling warmly. Karin didn't really know whether or not to trust her, the last stranger she had trusted poisoned her. The woman then carried on "But first I must tell you that this meeting is confidential therefore it is important that you know any information must not discussed with anyone"

"Ok"

"Have you ever heard of the Royal guard or otherwise known as squad zero?"

"Yes vaguely" Karin stated politely "Isn't it the division with the priority to look after the Royal family?"

"Exactly"

"Hikifune gave off a motherly vibe" Karin thought "A bit like Unohana."

"I am sure you are aware of the fact that they do not reside in Soul Society but in another dimension. I am the commander of the unit based in the other dimension and we have been keeping an eye on your progress."

"Why?" Karin asked confused

"We feel you have great potential and would like to offer you a chance to join the royal guard" Karin didn't know what to do, it all happened so quickly and her mind was racing. Sure she had become strong but others were far stronger, didn't they know she had hollow powers? Like Hiyori had said Soul Society doesn't accept those with hollow powers. "Unfortunately we are not able to give you time to think about it, you will have to decide now."

All Karin could do was go with her gut feeling and she said "Yes, I will join the Royal Guard"

"Good, follow me then."

She stood up and indicated for Karin to follow her, she walked over to the wall behind Yamamotos' chair and walked through it and as she did the stone work rippled like water, then she was gone. Karin stepped up to the wall, it looked solid and her senses told her that if she walked foreword she would walk straight into a stone wall.

She put her hand on the surface, it rippled under her touch and then she stepped through it felt as if cold water had rushed over her yet she remained dry.

**Sorry I took so long yet again, I really wasn't prepared for my work load this year and I stated working again in a part time job which had taken up quite a few hours as well so progress of this story could be really slow. Tell me did you ever expect this to happen and what do you think of the new developments.**

**Please, please, please review the more I get and know what is good and bad about the story the more I will be able to improve.**

3


	17. AN

Hi soz that this isn't an update but I have literally been crushed by coursework and i've pulled at least 3 all nighters. I re – read over my story and I am going to take the suggestion which some people have made about getting a beta and I went to look for one but there are so many, so and I wasn't able to find a Karin Hitsugaya beta. Therefore I am offering ne one who reads the story a chance to be mine. So contact me and leave a review telling me would like to be my beta and why. I would love to have a beta and I will be ecstatic if there is even one person who wants to be.


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